The View From Now On
by blackkisbackk
Summary: It's been a few years since Remus and Sirius finally got the lives they'd always wanted. With Sirius getting a new job, Remus finally taking over the family business, and a young daughter, there are obstacles ahead. Sequel to "Spectacular Views."
1. Prologue: A Florentine Holiday

___A/N: This story is a sequel to my story "Spectacular Views." Although you may likely be able to read along with everything, there will be significant backstories you will miss if you don't read that story first. _

___Summary: It took Remus Lupin and Sirius Black a long time to find each other, and when they did, there were a few minor complications. Remus was working for Sirius, and Sirius was married… to a woman. After they could no longer deny their attraction to each other, they gave into their desires. There were struggles along the way, but eventually, Remus and Sirius overcame all and got married just five months after they first met. The prologue is an introduction to the story that takes place during their honeymoon, but the story actually begins a few years later._ _Our boys couldn't be happier, but there are of course trials ahead: Sirius gets a new job and Remus takes over the family business. Read along to see what's in store._  


_**The View From Now On**_

**Prologue: A Florentine Holiday**

"Aw, fuck…" Sirius moaned. "Yes, god, just like that. Shit…"

"Sirius, will you calm down over there?" came Remus's muffled voice.

Sirius brought his head out of his face pillow and looked over at Remus. "Jealous, Rem?"

Remus lifted his head and looked back at Sirius. "Jealous about what? Jealous that the masseuse has his hands on you, making you moan like that? Hardly. I get to do that every day for the rest of my life."

Sirius laughed and reached out a hand to hold Remus's as he turned his face back into his pillow. They were into the second week of their three-week honeymoon in Florence, Italy, and Sirius absolutely never wanted it to end. They had spent over a week free from the stresses of their lives in New York doing exactly what they had said they wanted to do in Florence. Most of their time was spent in the villa that Sirius had rented in the woods of northern Florence drinking wine, making love, and relaxing, but some days they would leave and see Florentine architecture or historic museums and monuments. It was called the birthplace of the Renaissance for a reason, but when he was in bed with Remus each night, he had a hard time recalling his own name, let alone the history of Italian culture.

Today they had taken a trip into the downtown area of Florence to do some sightseeing, shopping, and to get a massage at the place James's mom had suggested to them, which is where they currently were.

"Can we go back to our place after this?" Sirius asked Remus, his voice muffled by the face pillow.

"We have dinner reservations in two hours," Remus's own muffled voice replied.

"Yeah, but this massage has me all hot and bothered," Sirius said. "I just want to go back and have my way with you."

Remus laughed. "You're lucky these guys don't speak English."

Sirius smiled. "Even if they did, I would tell you that I want to be in your mouth, and I want you to be inside me right now. I don't know how long I can wait."

Remus looked at Sirius again, only to see that Sirius was already looking him like a starving man would look at a steak. Remus could feel himself heat up at Sirius's gaze.

"Stop, Sirius," Remus said breathily.

Sirius dropped Remus's hand and slid it up Remus's arm. Remus's eyes fluttered closed, and he muttered a protest again before he opened his eyes and looked at Sirius again. They looked at each other for a long moment before Remus sat up on the massage table. Sirius caught a glimpse of Remus's member before Remus stood up and wrapped his towel around his waist. Sirius stood up as well and wrapped his own towel around his waist. Both masseuses looked extremely confused.

"No massaggio più?" Remus's masseuse asked him.

"Uh… non," Remus said. "Mi… uh… mi dispiace," he said in the little bit of Italian he knew as he began to head for the door. All of their belongings were in the changing area in the other room. "Grazie," Remus said as he took Sirius's hand and led them out of the room. "Grazie." As soon as they were in the small locker room area in the spa, Remus pulled Sirius to him and opened his mouth immediately against Sirius's. Sirius sighed into Remus's mouth as he responded to the kiss and put his hands on Remus's hips to yank him closer. Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius's neck and pressed himself as close to Sirius as he could.

"Mmm," Sirius hummed as Remus's mouth moved to Sirius's neck. "There's a… Remus… Shower." Sirius could hardly think with Remus's mouth all over his neck and chest as he pushed them backwards to where he knew a shower was located for people to wash off the massage oils.

Sirius yanked both his and Remus's towels off as he walked them into the shower. After he turned away briefly to turn on the faucet, he turned back to Remus and moaned when he felt Remus's hard length press against his own. Not a moment later, Remus turned Sirius around and pressed Sirius against the wall of the shower, biting Sirius's neck as he did so. He then lifted Sirius's arms above him against the shower wall and intertwined their fingers together as Sirius rested his forehead against the wall.

"Yeah, come on, Remus," Sirius sighed. Remus kicked Sirius's legs apart and rubbed himself on Sirius's entrance, and Sirius muttered a string of curses, begging Remus to go further as his new husband bit and sucked on his neck. Sirius turned to look at Remus, and when Remus's eyes met his, Remus pushed slowly into Sirius. Sirius whimpered and he heard Remus release a low, guttural sound right before he began to make a steady motion in and out of Sirius. Sirius's breath came out in heavy gasps with each of Remus's thrusts, and he began to murmur breathy pleas and commands to Remus, wanting more, faster, and harder. His cock was aching and begging for release, and it only took Remus hitting Sirius's sweet spot one time to make Sirius buck violently and release himself onto the wall of the shower. After a few more thrusts, Remus found his release as well, and he came with a loud grunt. He then dropped Sirius's hands and buried his head in Sirius's neck, still inside Sirius, chest heaving. For a while, the only sound was of the water hitting the tiles in the shower and Remus and Sirius's heavy breathing.

Finally, Remus pulled out of Sirius, and Sirius turned around as Remus braced both arms against the wall on either side of Sirius.

"I love you," Sirius said before he leaned in placed a kiss on Remus's lips. He wrapped his arms around Remus's waist and pulled him close, and Remus dropped his hands from the wall so he could cup Sirius's face in his hands and deepen their kiss. Sirius sighed when Remus's tongue found his, and he has began to feel himself getting hard again already, he wondered if Remus would have this affect on him for the rest of their lives. He couldn't possibly imagine a time when he wouldn't.

A bit later, Remus and Sirius were sufficiently clean of all the massage oils, and they were sitting outside at a fine dining restaurant in downtown Florence.

"It's beautiful here," Remus said, looking out at the city streets.

"Yeah," Sirius said. When Remus looked at him, he saw that Sirius was looking at him, rather than out into the Florentine cityscape. Remus smiled.

"What are you looking at?" Remus said jokingly.

"Oh, I don't know… My beautiful husband, maybe," Sirius said.

"I will never get sick of hearing you say that," Remus said.

"I can't believe we're married," Sirius said. "Why would you ever want to marry a fool like me?"

"I guess I felt sorry for you," Remus said as he leaned forward on his elbows on the table and put his chin in his hands.

Sirius laughed. "I thought that's what it had to be."

Remus raised an eyebrow at Sirius as he gave him a look. "You know that's not why," Remus said. "Really it's because of how sexy you are." Obviously, Remus was only kidding, but that didn't change the fact that Sirius really did look incredibly sexy tonight. He wore a feather light, white silk button down that had the first several button unbuttoned to reveal his muscular chest. Over that, he wore a dark grey blazer with the sleeves rolled up and matching grey slacks that were also rolled up. He looked dressed up for the restaurant, but also casual enough to take a walk on the beach. Remus couldn't help but admire his beauty. Only he could be so dressed up and yet so seemingly casual at the same time. He wore his clothes with cool confidence as he sat leaned back in his chair with one leg crossed over the other and his hands in his lap. He laughed easily and flirted with Remus as if they were on a first date, but he also ordered for both of them and messed with Remus's hair as if they had been married for decades.

It was a warm June night, but it was unusually breezy for Florence so the temperature felt perfect. Remus watched as the wind blew through Sirius's not-too-short, black locks, and he wondered how such an incredible man had ended up as his lover, best friend, and husband in the span of just about five months. Every morning when he woke up next to Sirius, Remus was still in shock.

"You don't look so bad yourself," Sirius said.

Remus opened his mouth to respond right when a little Italian boy ran from the Florentine street up to the fence that separated their table from the sidewalk.

"Hai visto la mia palla?"

"Palla?" Remus said slowly, thinking. After a second, Sirius saw his face light up with understanding. "Your ball?" Remus asked the boy.

"English," the boy responded with a bright smile. "You are American?"

Remus nodded and smiled back at the boy. "Yes, we're from the U.S."

"I'm Gregorio," the boy said with only a light Italian accent, his ball forgotten. "What's your name?"

Remus extended his hand to Gregorio, "I'm Remus," he said. Gregorio took his hand briefly.

"Remus?" Gregorio said when he dropped Remus's hand, wrinkling up his nose. "That's a weird name." Remus laughed as Gregorio turned to Sirius. "What's your name?"

"I'm Sirius," he said.

Gregorio frowned. "Are you making up those names?" he asked, looking back and forth between Remus and Sirius.

They both chuckled, and Sirius responded. "Don't be mad at us, be mad at our parents."

"I'm not mad at you," Gregorio said with a tilt of the head.

"Greg!" A tall, slim, attractive woman with long, wavy dark hair rushed up and turned Gregorio around to face her. She started speaking to him quickly in Italian, and Gregorio talked just as quickly back to her. Gregorio pointed to Remus and Sirius, and that was when the woman finally noticed them.

"Hello," she said slowly. Her accent was much thicker than Gregorio's, and it seemed that she had to think about every word before she said it. "I am Nadia. I am sorry for my son for his bothering of you."

"Oh, no," Remus said quickly. "He was very sweet. He says he lost his ball."

Nadia held up a small black ball in her hand and smiled. "I found it," she said. "We will leave you to your eat."

Remus smiled. "Nice meeting you," he said to Nadia.

"It was nice to meet you, Gregorio," Sirius said to Greg.

"I hope to see you again," he said politely to both Sirius and Remus. Nadia then took Gregorio's hand and with a wave to Sirius and Remus, walked away from them as Gregorio began to talk to his mother in animated Italian.

When Nadia and Gregorio left, Remus smiled and watched their retreating figures for several moments before they were out of sight. He turned back to Sirius who was regarding him curiously.

"Do you want kids?" Remus asked him suddenly.

Sirius thought for a second before he spoke. "I'm a career man," he said. "I've always been so focused on being an attorney and being the best one I could." Sirius smiled when Remus looked mildly crestfallen. "But as I got older and I was so unhappy in my marriage, I realized that I wanted a family. I wanted a spouse and kids to love and to love me. And then I met you, and I realized that I would die if I didn't get it." Remus smiled. "So the short answer is yes. I want kids, and I want them with you."

"When do you want them?" Remus asked.

"If it was anatomically possible, I would insist that we leave this restaurant right now and start trying to make babies," Sirius said. "We definitely have enough sex to have a good go at it."

Remus laughed. "Seriously, when do you want them?"

"Seriously, I'm ready now. We're financially stable—"

"_You're_ financially stable," Remus corrected.

"We're married now," Sirius said with a shrug and a smile. "What's mine is yours."

Remus shook his head. "No, Sirius. Your money is your money, not mine."

"Just shut up," Sirius said with an eye roll.

"No, honestly, Sirius. I don't expect you to support me."

"Oh, so, when I said in my vows that I would do anything and be anything that you ever needed, you thought that came with conditions?"

Remus opened his mouth and closed it when he realized that he was making Sirius upset.

"What's mine is yours, Remus," Sirius said firmly. "And _we_ are financially stable enough to have a kid."

There were a few moments of silence before Remus responded quietly. "How will we do it?"

Sirius shrugged. "There are tons of options. We could get a surrogate. You know, do a little spunk cocktail so we don't know which one of us is the father."

"Spunk cocktail?" Remus said with a laugh. "Really?"

Sirius laughed and shook his head at his own joke. "Or we could go to an agency or we could do foster care or we could go overseas. Whatever you want."

"Whatever _we_ want," Remus corrected. Sirius grinned. "So, you really want to do this?"

"Of course," Sirius said.

"What about… you know…"

Sirius frowned. "I don't know what you mean. You aren't worried about Priscilla, are you?" Sirius asked, referring to his ex-wife.

Remus shook his head quickly. "No, no. I mean, won't it be hard?"

"I'm sure it will be, but we've been through plenty."

Remus nodded. "I know, but I mean because we're gay."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Remus, it's 2012 and we live in New York City. It's not 1960s Mississippi."

"Okay, you're right," Remus said with a laugh. "But I'm sure it still won't be terribly easy for us."

"Remus John Lupin," Sirius said as he leaned forward and took Remus's hands in his. "I'm going to give you a baby. If it's the last thing I do, I will give you a baby."

* * *

_Next Chapter: Years pass. Sirius has something to tell Remus when they get their first night alone for a while._


	2. Edwynne Lupin Black

****_Hey everyone! I just want to say thanks for the reviews so far (if I haven't gotten back to you individually, I do plan to do so soon!). Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I just finished up my first year of law school, and finals are a bitch, so it's been crazy on my end. I've got a pretty busy summer ahead of me, but I will definitely have more free time to update more often. I'm EXTREMELY excited about this story. I've been writing and mapping everything out like a mad woman, and things are getting pretty exciting. Stay tuned! In this chapter, we're back to the present day for our boys. If you have any questions about the storyline (I'm obsessive when I read fanfictions, so I always want to know little stuff like how old they are, things about their past, where they live, everything. So I get it if you have ANY kinds of questions.) just let me know and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Other than that, just let me know what you think about the story so far! Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 1**: **Edwynne Lupin-Black**

_Three and a Half Years Later_

"Edwynne Andromeda, do not touch that!"

The little black-haired toddler turned around sheepishly to face her father, Remus Lupin, who then scooped her up in his arms. The little girl had just been about to pull a vase down from a table in her other father's office. She smiled a crooked smile when her father picked her up.

"How many times have I told you not to play in here when daddy isn't home?"

"A lot," Edwynne murmured. "Sorry, daddy."

Remus couldn't help but smile at his baby girl. Well, she wasn't much of a baby anymore. She was three years old, and she certainly had the markers that Remus had read in all the child development books. She ran and screamed, and she was defiant all the time. She asked more questions than she could possibly ever get the answers to, and she was constantly exploring. But she was also sweet and loving and incredibly smart. She was more charming than women ten times her age. And other than her other father, she was the greatest thing that had ever happened to Remus.

Remus swept his dark blond hair out of his face and set the girl back down. She smiled up at him and took his hand as they left Sirius's office.

"It's okay," Remus told her. "You can come in here when daddy is in here, but when he's not here, you have to stay out, okay?" Normally, they tried to let Edwynne discover things on her own, but Sirius had insisted that she stay out of his office when he wasn't home, especially now that she was so curious. There were too many breakables and sharp edges.

It was Saturday morning, and at the moment, Sirius was at his law office that he had started with his best friend, James Potter, about four years ago. Since then, the office had flourished and expanded. After he had won a major lawsuit against one of his father's clients, the Riddle Corporation, Sirius and James had more clients coming to them than they could possibly handle. They had hired on five more full-time lawyers and several junior associates. They had expanded the office by building onto it, but Sirius and James knew that they would have to move offices soon if they wanted to keep growing. Remus tried to convince them to move all the time, but they were too nostalgic about their first office. Remus couldn't really fault them for that.

"Can I go outside daddy?" Edwynne looked up at him with a hopeful look on her face.

Remus chuckled. "Of course you can." And before he had even finished the sentence, Edwynne bolted through the house and out the back door. Remus walked out after her and took a seat on his porch so he could watch her. As she climbed on the small play set they had gotten for her and as she threw sand above her head in the sandbox and screamed with mirth as it came cascading over her head, Remus shook his head and smiled.

The past four or so years of his life had passed by as if he was in a dream. They had brought Edwynne home from the group home when she was just a few months old. Her mother had died in childbirth and had had no family at all. They had named her Edwynne Andromeda, her middle name for Sirius's favorite aunt. She'd been a sickly baby, born prematurely, but Remus and Sirius had brought her home and loved her more than they could possibly imagine. She'd hardly ever cried, which had sometimes terrified Sirius, but as she'd gotten stronger and healthier, the fear had ebbed and everything began to get better and better every day.

Both Sirius and Remus worked a lot, but John Lupin had been more than willing to give Remus time off when Edwynne had been a baby. He worked more now, but he tried to keep his hours as limited as his father would allow him so that he could spend as much time as he could with the greatest little girl he had ever known. Since Sirius had hired on more people, he was able to spend more time at home, although he did still work a lot more than he wanted to.

All in all, life for Remus, Sirius, and Edwynne had been close to perfection over the years. Of course, there were bad days, but even at its worst, Remus always reminded himself how lucky he was. Five years ago, he'd felt as if his life was in a downward spiral. He'd just come out of an abusive relationship, he was working long, hard hours with no recognition, and he was simply unhappy and lonely. Now, even if there was ever a bad day, Remus was happy—happier than he'd ever been in his entire life.

Remus sighed and smiled just as he heard his cell phone ring from inside. He went inside to grab it before coming back outside to watch Edwynne.

"Hey what's up?" Remus said into his phone. Edwynne looked up and waved at him. He waved back with a big grin.

"_Oh, not much, just your asshole husband."_

"I had a feeling he would be in a bad mood today. Sorry…" Remus sat back down as he listened to James ramble on about how frustrating Sirius was being today.

"…_and he's yelled at at least five different people today. He made one intern cry, so I had to send her home early. What did you do to the kid?"_

"Well… Okay, well, you know, I'm sorry!" Remus said defensively before he had even explained anything to James. "Yesterday was a long day. And he came home, and we were going to have sex—we haven't had time lately—but he took a shower and when he got out I was asleep."

"_Oh, no…"_

"Well maybe if you didn't have him working such long hours he could have come home at a decent hour."

James laughed on the other end.

"_It's not my fault! He's just as in charge as I am. If he wanted to go home, he could. He's just been working a lot on this Grandover case."_

"I know."

"_How long has it been?"_

Remus paused. "Three weeks?"

James scoffed, and Remus could practically hear him rolling his eyes on the other end.

"_You two are a couple of horny teenagers. That's not that long for a married couple."_

"Oh yeah. How long do you go without having sex?"

"_Please. I'm irresistible. My wife can't handle two days without me."_

Remus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, you try suppressing your sexuality for almost thirty years, and see if you want to wait three weeks."

James laughed again, much louder this time.

"_Don't act like it was a total dry spell for those years. He had some on the side. Don't think he saved himself for you."_

This time it was Remus's turn to laugh.

"_What's your excuse?"_

"My excuse?" Remus asked.

"_Yeah, you said Sirius can't handle three weeks because he was—as you say—suppressing his sexuality for thirty years. What's your excuse?"_

Remus paused for a few seconds. "Sirius is the sexiest man on earth… and I have the libido of a horny teenager. You're right."

This time, when James laughed, he laughed so loudly that Remus had to pull his phone away from his ear. When James finally composed himself, he spoke.

"_Okay, well I have an idea. Pack a bag for my beautiful niece and bring your ass and hers over here. We'll get you laid yet."_

* * *

"Daddy!" Edwynne screamed when Remus put her on her feet and let her run to her father.

Sirius turned around from the copy machine that he was standing at, and when he saw Edwynne and Remus, his eyes lit up.

"Teddy!"

Sirius squatted down and opened his arms as Edwynne ran to him. A few other people around the office spotted them and came out to watch and say hello to Sirius's daughter. By the time Edwynne's little legs allowed her to reach Sirius, Remus had made it over to them. When Sirius stood up with Edwynne in his arms, he leaned forward and kissed Remus with Edwynne in between them.

"To what do I owe this surprise?" Sirius said to Remus.

"Teddy wanted to see her dad," Remus said. "And James told me you've been in a bad mood today. I thought we could cheer you up."

"Well, I feel a million times better already."

"Teddy," James said in a loud, booming voice when he stepped out of his office. Teddy squealed when she saw her uncle and squirmed to get free of her father's grasp. Sirius laughed and let her down so she could run to James.

"There's my favorite girl," James said as Teddy ran to him. When he scooped her up he added. "But don't tell Aunt Lily." Teddy giggled, and James took her into a nearby conference room so some of the other lawyers and assistants could fawn over her. Remus rolled his eyes with a smile. He knew how much Teddy loved the attention she got when he brought her here.

"I'm sorry about last night," Remus said quietly as he turned back to Sirius and slid his arms around his husband's waist.

Sirius laughed and put his arms around Remus's waist as well. "It's okay," he said. "I was just so looking forward to having my way with you last night."

"It's not too late," Remus said as he leaned in and kissed Sirius.

"Mm," Sirius said as he pulled Remus tighter.

When a paralegal cleared her throat and shuffled by quickly, Sirius pulled away from Remus and took him by the hand so he could lead him to his office. As soon as the door was shut behind them, Sirius pressed Remus in between himself and the back of the door as he brought his mouth back to Remus's. Remus sighed and opened his mouth against Sirius's. Sirius growled and pulled Remus's hips against his own, making Remus gasp and rub himself against Sirius as their mouths parted briefly. Sirius then leaned forward to capture Remus's mouth again.

"God, I've missed this," Sirius said into Remus's mouth. Remus shut up him, however, when he put his hands on the back of Sirius's neck to deepen the kiss. Remus could feel Sirius getting harder, and he knew he should stop this before it went too far. Besides, he had too many things planned for them for tonight. He didn't want to spoil it. But when Sirius's mouth moved from Remus's mouth to his neck, Remus moaned softly and thought that letting this go a little while longer couldn't hurt.

Remus could feel his toes and the tips of his fingers tingling as Sirius's mouth worked on his neck. Remus reached up to run his fingers through Sirius's black hair and press Sirius closer to him. Remus whimpered when Sirius began to suck at the sensitive spots on his neck.

"Sirius," he sighed.

Sirius growled low in his throat, and moment later, Remus bucked violently when Sirius's hand found its way into Remus's pants and cupped him gruffly. Remus said Sirius's name again, and although he had intended for it to be a sound of protest—to warn them not to go any further—it only urged Sirius forward as he began to stroke Remus in his pants, all the while leaving his mouth to do wicked things to Remus's neck.

"Wait…" Remus gasped out. "Sirius…" Sirius's hand began to speed up, and Sirius began to rub himself against Remus. Each slow, deliberate thrust of Sirius's hips against Remus's made Remus's head spin, but he knew it had to stop.

"Sirius," Remus said more forcefully. He put his hands on Sirius's chest and pushed him away. Sirius's eyes were glazed with want, and as much as Remus wanted to go further—as much as he wanted Sirius to bend him over and take Remus against his desk—they couldn't.

Sirius's hand remained in Remus's pants as Remus spoke again. "We should stop."

"Why?" Sirius said as he moved to lean in again.

Remus chuckled and put his hands more firmly against Sirius's chest to push him away. Sirius's hand slid out of Remus's pants, and although his body protested, Remus simply sighed when Sirius took a few steps back. "Because you've got an office to run, and there are about thirty people on your staff that are just outside this door." Remus pointed his thumb behind him.

Sirius dropped his head and sighed before he looked up at Remus again. "You're right." Sirius turned around and walked to his desk. He walked around it to sit in his chair, and Remus walked over and moved some things out of the way so he could sit on the desk directly facing Sirius. Sirius looked up at him. "You tell me we have to stop," Sirius said when he looked up, "but then you tease me," he said as he moved his chair forward and slid his hands up Remus's thighs.

Remus chuckled again, and felt his heart speed up at Sirius's touches. He was still hard, and as much as he knew they should stop, he wanted more.

"We have tonight," Remus said huskily.

"Tonight?" Sirius said as he moved closer so he could move his hands back and cup Remus's ass.

"Mm, yeah, tonight," Remus said breathily. "James said he and Lily will take Teddy for the night."

Sirius leaned back a bit and put his hands on Remus's stomach. When Remus felt pressure from Sirius's hands, he complied and leaned back on his elbows. Sirius stood up and hovered over him. He brought his mouth close to Remus's but did not kiss him.

"What if I can't wait until tonight?" Sirius said. Remus could feel Sirius's hot breath on his face, making him shiver. Sirius moved down and lifted up Remus's shirt so he could place a kiss right near Remus's bellybutton. Remus sighed and dropped his head back.

"We have to wait, Sirius," he said. "We can't do this here."

"Why?" Sirius breathed. Remus shivered again when he felt the hot breath wind through his bellybutton. "We used to do it here all the time."

"That was before you had a full time staff of this many people," Remus protested. But even he could tell that there was no force behind his words.

"I want your cock, Remus," Sirius said as he unzipped Remus's pants. Remus groaned at Sirius's words and fell back off his elbows and onto his back. He was never able to resist Sirius when he acted like this. Sirius moved his hands underneath Remus's ass and hooked his hands into Remus's pants so he could slide them down to free Remus's now completely hard cock. "And it looks like your cock wants me," Sirius said. Remus moaned and shivered again when he felt Sirius's breath on him. "Does your cock want me, Remus?" When Sirius placed a small kiss on Remus's tip, Remus's hips bucked, but Sirius's hands were there to keep him steady. Sirius then slid his tongue along Remus's length. Remus moaned. "Remus, do you want me to suck your cock?"

"…Y…Yes…." Remus managed to choke out right before Sirius took Remus's tip into his mouth.

"Yes, what?" Sirius said once he pulled away. Sirius began to place open-mouthed kisses down his shaft, and Remus threw his arms above him on the desk so that they dangled off the other side.

"S…" Remus said as Sirius tongue slid down his length again.

"Yes, what, Remus?"

"Suck me," Remus moaned. Sirius growled and took Remus into his mouth completely. Remus brought one hand down into Sirius's hair and clutched tightly while he brought the other hand up to his mouth to stop himself from moaning out loud. And as Sirius began to move his mouth in a steady motion along Remus's length, Remus whimpered and bit his hand that he had curled into a fist. "Fuck, Sirius," he moaned as his hand tightened in Sirius's hair. When the rhythm began to speed up, his other hand joined the other in Sirius's hair and Remus began to guide Sirius's movements. "Fu…" Remus moaned after a few more moments and his mouth fell open in a silent moan as the orgasm took him over. He released himself into Sirius's mouth, and Sirius held his hips down to stop him from bucking too violently. Sirius's mouth continued to move as Remus rode the wave and quivered.

Then Remus jerked upright, and pulled Sirius to him. He wrapped one arm around Sirius's neck as their tongues battled, and he shoved his other hand into Sirius's pants so he could get him off. Remus could taste himself in Sirius's mouth, and it only took a few strokes before Sirius grunted and he thrust himself into Remus's hand as he came.

When Sirius finished, he collapsed down into his chair, and Remus fell back onto the desk again. They sat like that in silence for several moments, chests heaving, until Sirius finally spoke.

"Aren't you glad we didn't wait until tonight?"

Remus laughed, but then sat bolt upright when there was a knock at the door. He zipped up his pants quickly and sat up on the desk as Sirius checked himself and said "Come in!"

James raised an eyebrow and gave them both knowing looks, looking at Sirius's messy hair and the marks on Remus's neck as he walked in with Teddy in his arms.

"Teddy's excited to come stay with me, Harry, and Aunt Lily," James declared. Teddy smiled and nodded vigorously. Remus got off the desk and walked around to take Teddy from James. "Gotta give the daddys a night to themselves. Though they may not even need it now." James muttered the last sentence and winked at Sirius who had walked over to them as well. Sirius punched James in the arm, and James laughed.

"I can't wait to play with Harry," Teddy said to Remus and Sirius. "I have so many new games we can play."

"Well, be a good girl," Remus said. "Help your Aunt Lily if she needs it."

"Yeah," Sirius said, stepping up closer to them. "And make sure you show Harry who's the best at soccer."

"Okay, okay," James said, taking Teddy again. He then put her on the floor and took her hand. "We're leaving before you lie to the poor girl anymore." Sirius and Remus laughed, and Teddy frowned at James, making him laugh as well.

Sirius and Remus then took turns kissing Teddy. "We'll pick you up tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, bye!" Teddy said. And although Sirius and Remus hated spending a night away from their girl, as they watched her waddle away with James, they couldn't help but think about what they had just done in Sirius's office and how they couldn't wait to get home and do it again. All night.

* * *

"There's something we need to talk about," Sirius said as he and Remus were sitting down to eat dinner. They had picked up take-out on the way home, and although the food had had to wait while they had made other use of the kitchen table, they were now eating in their dining room while the sun was setting outside the window.

Remus looked up from his plate and regarded Sirius. "What about?" he said slowly.

"Okay…" Sirius exhaled. "A few months ago—"

"Wait," Remus interrupted, fear written all over his face. "Is this… Look, I don't need you to clear your conscience." Sirius narrowed his eyes, and then dawning came over him while Remus rambled. "If this is something that happened… I… I don't need to know about it. I—"

"Hold on, hold on," Sirius held up a hand. "First of all, if you think I cheated on you, you're an idiot. _I_ would be an idiot if I cheated." Remus opened his mouth, but Sirius continued. "Second of all, you don't mean to tell me that if I _did_ cheat, you wouldn't beat my ass at the very least?" Again, Remus opened his mouth to speak, but Sirius stopped him. "No, Remus. I would _never_ cheat on you. You're the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. And if I ever did, know that I've lost my mind. And I don't want you to just forgive me so easily. You deserve better than that, and if I don't give you what you deserve, then I don't deserve you. Got it?"

Remus kept his mouth closed and nodded. He had to admit that when Sirius had said his first sentence, cheating was his first thought. And although he had nodded to what Sirius had said, he knew he would never oblige. If Sirius cheated, there was no way he would ever be strong enough to end things. He would rather live with that knowledge than ever live a day of his life without Sirius ever again.

"I was _going_ to say," Sirius said. "That I applied for a job a few months ago."

"You have a job," Remus managed to say.

"I know, but… Well, my mentor from law school said that NYU was looking for a visiting professor to teach a seminar about litigation and the kind of work that I do in white-collar crime. So… I applied. And I got it."

Remus's face lit up. "Sirius! That's great!"

Sirius shrugged. "I probably only got it because of my name, but—"

"No," Remus stood up and walked around the table so he could go next to Sirius. He leaned against the table in front of Sirius. "You got it because you have a great academic record, and you're a great lawyer and you do great work."

Sirius smiled. "And my father is Orion Black."

"Stop that," Remus said as his brow furrowed. "You are capable, Sirius. You're a great lawyer. You managed to start up a firm with just one other person, and you made it into one of the most successful small firms in New York in just four years. You deserve this job."

Sirius smiled. "Okay," was all he said.

"You're going to work at NYU," Remus said. "That's incredible."

"Well…" Sirius said slowly.

"What?"

"I think we have to move."

Remus smiled. "I thought you might say that."

"Look, I know you love this house. We don't have to—"

"I do love this house," Remus interrupted. "But it's our house. It will be ours forever. Just because we move back into the city doesn't mean this house will leave. We'll always have this house."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course," Remus said. "And anyway, this will be the perfect excuse for you and James to give up that old office and find a floor in a building in the city. We both know that it's time."

Sirius sighed. "Why are you always right?"

Remus leaned in and kissed Sirius before walking back over to his chair. "One of my many charms," he said as he sat down.

"What about Teddy?" Sirius asked. "She loves it here."

"And she'll love the city, too," Remus said. "She's three. She loves every place she goes to."

Sirius laughed. "You're right about that." Then, "So, we're going to do this?"

"Yes. We're going to move back to New York, you're going to bring your firm with you, and you're going to teach a class at NYU. This is not a drill."

* * *

_Next chapter: We catch up with some old friends._


	3. Friends

_Author's note: Greetings all! First, thanks for all the reviews so far. Second, __**IWLTxo**__ asked about how old Remus and Sirius are and I thought I would let everyone know. At the beginning of Spectacular Views, Sirius was a year out of law school. In my head he was about 27 when he and Remus met, and Remus was a little younger. The epilogue of Spectacular Views ended a little over a year after the beginning of the story. Now, 3.5 years have passed, so in my head Sirius is 32 and Remus is a bit younger. Probably around 29. Also, in case you were curious, James and Priscilla (who we see again in this chapter!) are Sirius's age and Lily is Remus's age. Regulus is 28, and John Lupin is in his early 60s. I think that covers all the major characters. _

_A second important question I got was from __**AKBookGirl**__ about how Teddy got her nickname. Well, I knew that I wanted their daughter to be an AU Teddy Lupin, so I wanted to find what Teddy could be short for if Teddy was a girl. I did some research and found Edwin, Edwina, and Theodora to be options, and I liked Edwin, but I decided to change the spelling. Thus, "Edwynne" was born. If anyone has any other questions about anything at all, just let me know. Thanks for reading and reviewing! Enjoy this next chapter!_

* * *

**Chapter 2: Friends**

Remus slipped his hand into Sirius's as they drove down the interstate toward James and Lily's townhouse in Brooklyn. He then adjusted himself in his passenger side seat so that he could rest his head on Sirius's shoulder as he drove. As they drove, Remus could not help but feel a little sad about the fact that soon they would be making less and less frequent trips to their home in the Hudson Highlands. It was so beautiful there, and Remus had spent so much of his childhood in that house, and he had made his new life with Sirius there. It was full of almost nothing but the happiest memories of Remus's life.

But Remus just had to tell himself that he wouldn't be saying goodbye to this house. It would always be a part of him no matter where he and Sirius ended up. They would take vacations here and they would escape here and they would spend the night here if they needed to. Remus would never forget the first night they'd spent there after they had moved in. There were boxes everywhere and it smelled like dust, but as Sirius had climbed over him in their new marital bed, Remus thought that any moment he would wake up from some kind of dream that he'd been in for a year. And as Sirius had pulled Remus's pants off and leaned back in to kiss him, Remus had felt his heart expand at the thought that he never thought he would get a man or deserve a man like Sirius. And as Remus had quickly undone Sirius's pants and pulled them down just low enough because he couldn't take it anymore, and as Sirius had pushed inside him, Remus had released a shaky breath—a breath it seemed like he'd been holding for years as he'd waited for Sirius to come along. And finally, as his nails had scraped down Sirius's back and he called out Sirius's name, he thought nothing could ever be better than this feeling—the feeling of complete and utter happiness that Sirius gave him every single day.

That was until the day they had gone to the group home months and months later and met their little girl. As they'd walked in, Remus had grabbed Sirius's hand, fear suddenly taking over. What if he was a bad father? What if the girl didn't like him? What if they had jumped too soon? But Sirius had given his hand a reassuring squeeze and he let out a small sigh of relief as they stepped through the doors of the group home. It was like Remus had temporarily blacked out as he walked through the home. Even now, he couldn't begin to explain what the home looked like. When Lily had asked about the other children there and the conditions that they lived in, she'd been incredibly frustrated when Remus couldn't even tell her one thing. His eyes had zoned into the nursery where they kept the parentless infants, and without even knowing which one was his, he had released Sirius's hand and walked in front of him and the head of the home to the crib where he knew his daughter was laying.

The moment he'd laid eyes on her, his eyes had welled with tears as he gazed down at her. And when the head—Mrs. Walker, Sirius had told him after—had lifted the girl and placed her in Remus's arms, he had laughed through his tears. It had been the greatest moment of his life.

She had been so frail. Although she was nearly four months old when they'd brought her home, she was still as small as a small newborn baby. She'd coughed and wheezed as she stirred in Remus's arms, and when she opened her eyes—the grey eyes that were so eerily similar to Sirius's—and looked at Remus, he had fallen in love with her. He had brushed her thick black hair back gently and she had stared at Remus for a bit longer before she turned her head towards his chest, took a deep, rasping breath, and drifted back to sleep. From that moment until the moment they took her home and the weeks that followed, Remus had hardly let her out of his arms. Of course, Sirius held her, too, but when they sat on the couch and watched TV in the mornings while Sirius sipped coffee and read the paper, Sirius's arm would be draped over Remus's shoulders or resting on his leg while Remus held their girl. He was so in love with her, and he never knew that he was capable of loving someone like this. Eventually, Remus and Sirius spent equal time holding her and feeding her and changing her and everything, but for those first few weeks, Teddy had been the center of Remus's world, and Sirius patiently waited, like the perfect man he was.

"I love you, you know," Remus said to Sirius, still gazing out the window. When Sirius didn't say anything, Remus looked over his shoulder at Sirius, who was smiling. Sirius glanced down at Remus.

"I know," he said before leaning down and kissing Remus chastely before turning back to the road. "And look," Sirius said, eyes on the road.

"No."

Sirius glanced over at Remus who just continued to stare out the window. "What do you mean 'no'?" Sirius said.

Remus sighed. "I know you're going to give this whole speech about how we don't have to move back to the city and you don't have to take this job, and I'm not going to hear it. We're moving. You're taking the job. You're moving the firm. End of discussion."

Sirius couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, okay," Sirius said. "I just don't want you to feel like this is being forced on you."

"I don't feel like that. Now just shut up and drive."

"Oh," Sirius said, laughing. "You don't want to enjoy the conversation of your husband?"

Remus simply hummed in response and smirked as he sank even lower in his seat. They were only about twenty minutes out of the city, and Remus simply wanted to enjoy the peace while it lasted.

* * *

"Oh, thank _god_ you'll be moving back to the city," Lily was saying after filling up James and Sirius's wine glasses as they sat in the kitchen while Harry and Teddy continued to play. Occasionally, they would hear a shriek from Teddy or a shout from Harry and they would take turns getting up to check on them, but for the most part, they left the toddlers alone, in the safety of James and Lily's playroom (_"A childproof playroom," Sirius always said. "Sounds counterproductive.")_.

"Oh, calm down," Sirius said with an eye roll.

"What? I'm getting sick of the two hour commute between me and my best friend."

"Oh," said James with mock offense. "Not to mention the hour and a half long commute that keeps your husband away from you in morning and at night."

Lily waved him off. "Yeah, I guess. Whatever." She turned back to Sirius. "So when do you start the new gig?"

Sirius reached out and slid his hand onto Remus's knee as he spoke. Remus smiled to himself and put his hand over Sirius's. "The fall," Sirius said.

Lily's eyes widened slightly as she grinned. "Oh, that's so exciting. I'm so happy for you, Sirius."

"Thanks, I—"

"You know," Remus said, cutting Sirius off. "Professorships are very prestigious. Sirius doesn't want to brag, so I'll just do it for him. At elite law schools, you have to be pretty damn successful if you want a job. At any law school, really. So, he—"

"Okay, okay, we get it, you got laid all weekend," James interrupted. "You don't have to suck his dick right in front of us."

Remus's mouth fell open in shock as Lily covered her mouth and Sirius snorted into his wine glass.

"I'll have you know," Remus began as he patted Sirius on the back, who was still coughing and choking on the wine he'd snorted. "That it was Sirius who was doing most of the dick sucking this weekend. He just couldn't get enough." Sirius looked up at Remus, watery eyes widening as he still tried to catch his breath.

"Remus," He managed to splutter between coughs.

"Jesus Christ, Lupin, what have I done to you?" James said with a chuckle as Lily just shook her head at all three of them.

Remus shrugged and changed the subject. "Well, we're looking for a place in Manhattan right now. Probably lower west side so we can be near the campus. You guys are going to help us move, right?"

"Well, James can help. I'll sit around looking pretty while you guys do all the work," Lily said.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Oh, you're such a big feminist, but you're going to make the men do all the physical labor. Where's Gloria Steinem Jr. when we need her?"

Lily laughed. "Oh, shut up, Sirius. Normally I would, but I shouldn't be doing any heavy lifting." Lily paused. "Being pregnant and all."

The room fell silent as James, Remus, and Sirius all gaped at her. Several moments of silence passed before the room exploded with chatter.

"You're pregnant?"

"So, _that's_ why you're drinking water."

"Nice of you to tell your own damn husband!"

"How far along are you?"

"Wait, why didn't you tell James?"

"Yeah, why didn't you tell me!"

"Okay! Calm down," Lily said, holding up her hands as she laughed. "James, I didn't tell you because I just found out yesterday, and I figured I could just tell you when I told them since I knew they would be coming over today. Apparently I'm already three months along."

"Three months…" James said to himself. Then he snapped and looked up at them, smiling. "Yeah, that makes sense."

Remus glanced over at James before looking back at Lily. "Were you trying?"

Lily shook her head. "No."

"But—" Sirius began but Lily cut him off.

"Well, when we got married I went off birth control because I new we would be having more kids and I wanted my body to get back onto a natural cycle. Normally, we would just… Well, we don't use condoms, so…" Lily's neck started to turn red, and as she continued, the blush crept up further. "Well, he would just… you know…"

"I would spread my seed elsewhere," James finished for her, still grinning like an idiot.

"Oh, god…" Remus groaned as Sirius put his face in his hands.

"Oh, like you have any room to talk!" Lily said, her face now completely red. "You just told us that Sirius spent the entire weekend sucking your dick!"

Sirius held up a hand. "Touché," he said, his face still in his other hand. "Just stop."

"Baby," James turned to Lily as Remus and Sirius gathered their wits again. "We're having another baby," he said as he grabbed Lily's face in his hands and brought her in for a kiss.

After Lily pulled way from James she turned to Remus. "You'll be godfather won't you? Sirius is Harry's so we want you for this baby. I mean, I know it's a huge responsibility, and—"

"Are you kidding? Of course I will!" Remus said as he got up to hug his best friend. The four of them exchanged hugs—Sirius and James sharing a particularly long one that had James pulling away from Sirius with tears welled in his eyes—and when they sat back down, Lily wiped the tears out of her own eyes and looked up at Remus as he sat back down.

"So when are you two having another?"

For the second time that afternoon, Sirius began to choke on the wine he had just sipped.

"Well, we're pretty happy with the one we've got," Remus said while patting Sirius on the back.

"Of course you are," Lily said. "But I'm sure Teddy will want a brother or a sister."

Remus shrugged. "We haven't really talked about it. We've got a lot on our plate right now as it is. I don't know." But as Sirius caught his breath and Lily and James began chatting about the baby, Remus couldn't help but think about what Lily had said. No, he and Sirius hadn't talked about having more kids, but Remus had always wanted a big family. He'd been an only child and had craved siblings for most of his life. He looked over at Sirius who was resolutely studying the contents of his glass and decidedly not looking at Remus. Remus knew Sirius's experience with his brother had been far from ideal, but Remus didn't want that to deter them from expanding their little family. Yep. Lily Evans-Potter had just opened a can of worms.

* * *

A few days later, Remus and Sirius were off with Teddy for another lunch date. Sirius had the day off from the firm _("God I just hope James doesn't burn the place to the ground before we get a chance to move."_) and they were spending it by looking for places in the city that they could move to. While they were in town, they figured they could catch up with an old friend they hadn't seen in a while.

"Aunt Pilla!" Teddy shrieked as they neared the outdoor patio of the restaurant where the Aunt Pilla in question had stood up with open arms to greet her excited niece.

Once Remus and Sirius caught up with their daughter who was now in her aunt's arms, Sirius leaned in a pecked her on the cheek. "Hi, Pris," he said as he leaned in. "You look great," he said when he leaned back out. Priscilla smiled at him and sat down with Teddy after Remus took his turn greeting and kissing Priscilla.

"Oh, you two look wonderful," she said as she sat with Teddy on her lap. Teddy had her head bent down as she colored on a pad that Sirius had brought with them.

Remus smiled as Sirius spoke. "Thanks, Pris, but it's you who looks wonderful. My god, you're glowing."

Priscilla laughed. "Am I?"

Sirius exchanged a look with Remus and he looked back at Priscilla with narrowed eyes. "You aren't pregnant are you?"

Priscilla gaped. "No! What? No why would you think that?"

"Sorry," Remus said as he chuckled. "Lily's pregnant, so I guess we're just suspicious of all women now."

Priscilla's mouth opened into an "O" as she gasped. "Lily's pregnant! Tell her I said congratulations. That's amazing."

Remus and Sirius exchanged another look at the look on Priscilla's face when she thought about Lily's pregnancy. He had never seen Priscilla so happy when they'd found out that their other friends were having kids. Usually she was miserable, wishing that it were her.

"So, anyway, what's new with you?" Priscilla asked. Before they could answer, she continued on. "I'm so sorry I've been awful at keeping in touch over this last year. I've just been so busy, and I know you've been busy with Teddy and the firm and everything." Teddy perked up at the sound of her name and Priscilla leaned in to nuzzle the little girl's hair. "I missed you all so much though." Teddy giggled and went back to her coloring. "I'm so happy for you, Sirius. And you, Remus. I know I tell you all the time, but you've got such a beautiful family. I'm so mad I haven't spent more time with you this last year. It's been busy…"

"Yeah," Sirius said, laughing. "You mentioned that."

Priscilla waved him off good-naturedly. "I've been writing more, did I tell you? Yeah, my friend Annie—you remember Annie, Sirius—well she's working at a publishing house and she's been talking me up. One of her superiors read my book and loved it. She thinks I'll get a call any day now. Mother is mortified."

Sirius and Remus both laughed. They both knew exactly how the prudish Mrs. Prewett felt about her daughter writing what Priscilla called "erotogenic surrealistic fantasy" novels, but what Sirius and Remus knew to simply be sexy romance novels set in the future.

"But she'll get over it. She's already mad at me for ditching all of her social gatherings for the past two years, but she'll get over that, too, I guess," Priscilla said with a smile and a shrug. "I'm far too happy to care about what she thinks anymore. Patty, too," Priscilla said, referring to her sister, Patricia. "She absolutely hates Peter." Priscilla giggled. "It's so funny. I tell him not to worry, but you know how he is. Oh, speaking of Peter." Priscilla put a hand on the table and looked at Remus as if to tell him to take it. He took it with a smile. "I can never thank you enough for setting me up with him, Remus. I know I was hesitant at first, but… My god, it's been the best year and a half of my life. No offense, Sirius," she added as an afterthought, making both Sirius and Remus laugh again. "He's so perfect. He's not my type, as they say, but Sirius was my type and looked how that turned out." Priscilla shrugged. "But Peter… he adores me, and I'm so in love. I can't even… I didn't even hesitate when he asked me to marry him. You know, I thought I would. I thought—"

"WHAT?"

"Priscilla!"

Priscilla looked up at them with a sheepish grin on her face and Teddy looked up and gave her shouting fathers a dirty look before going back to her coloring pad.

In that moment, before Priscilla could speak, the waiter came over to introduce himself and take their drink orders. Sirius practically shooed him away after they hurriedly gave him what they wanted.

"Priscilla Lynn, how dare you just slip that into conversation!" Sirius said sternly. Then he broke out into a grin. "So the old fool finally popped the question?"

Priscilla sighed and smiled. "You two are so unobservant," she said as she pulled her hand out from behind Teddy to show them the ring.

Remus covered his mouth while Sirius's own mouth dropped open.

"Priscilla…" Sirius grabbed her hand to look closer. "That damn Peter," he said after several moments of admiration. "Puts my ring to shame."

Priscilla laughed. "Oh, relax," she said as she moved her hand over for Remus to see. "Of course, Peter and I want you two to be a part of the wedding. Remus, he wanted to talk to you himself, but I can't wait! He wants you to be one of the groomsmen, and Sirius…" She pulled her hand away finally as Remus and Sirius looked back up at her. "Well, I know that we were married, and I know that we hit a rough patch, no thanks to this one." She pointed her thumb at Remus who just chuckled and shook his head. She smiled. "But… Sirius, you've been my best friend for thirty years, and I couldn't imagine my first wedding day without you, and I can't imagine this one without you either. I—I just… I want you to be my maid—or man—whatever, I don't know… of honor. My best man. You're just… I mean, mother is completely against it—thinks it inappropriate and unnatural but I don't care. There's no one else I would want next to me. If it's weird you can tell me, but I—"

"Pris. Priscilla," Sirius said laughing and holding up a hand to stop her. He then put that hand on the table so she would take it. "Of course I will. I…" His voice cracked a bit when he put his hand to his chest. "It would be an honor."

Priscilla smiled and sighed. "Oh, Sirius. I'm so happy. You know, I never thought I would get married again. The first one—no offense—turned out in shambles, and I just—I didn't like who I was when I was married. I'm sure you noticed… Marriage made me different and mean, and I didn't think I would ever want to do that again, but with Peter… You know, I just can't imagine not being married to him. I knew… You know, I knew it would be bad with you because even though we're best friends and we love each other so much… well, you're gay, and I knew that, and no amount of friendship or love can change that. But Peter, well, he's not gay." Remus and Sirius laughed. "And he loves me and I love him, and we're going to get married!" She threw up her hands in excitement. "And you know, Pettigrew is an awful last name, but at least my initials will be back to P.L.P. Gotta look at the Brightside! And we want Teddy to be a flower girl." Priscilla laughed when Teddy perked up again. "We just want your entire family to be a part of it." Priscilla squeezed Teddy just as the waiter came back with their drinks. He took their order and hurried away, and Priscilla jumped in again.

"Ugh, I'm just so annoyed because you live so far away, and you'll never be in town to help me with any wedding stuff—"

"Well, actually, that's not true. Tell her, Sirius."

Priscilla's brow furrowed and she looked at Sirius. "I got a job."

"You have a job," Priscilla said, confused.

Sirius chuckled. "I know. I got a, uh, a teaching gig at—"

"At NYU?" Priscilla said, her eyes lighting up. Sirius nodded. "Oh, Sirius!" She put out her arms, gesturing for him to come over and hug her and he got up and did so before sitting back down again. "That's fantastic! So, you're moving back into the city?" When both Remus and Sirius nodded, Priscilla went on. "Oh, thank GOD! I know you guys were trying to be all earthy and anti-urban, but I'm glad that phase is over and you can move back to the only place on earth that really matters."

"We still love our place upstate, Priscilla," Remus said.

Priscilla waved him off the same way she'd done to Sirius a few minutes earlier. "Oh, Sirius, I'm so proud of you. They must have been so impressed with you. Those jobs are incredibly prestigious."

"Well, I'm sure my name had something to do with it."

"Stop it! Stop," Priscilla said. She gave Remus a look and he put his hands up in surrender.

"Don't look at me. I've tried telling him. He doesn't listen."

"Sirius Black, it has nothing to do with your name. I'm sure they're incredibly impressed with your grade point average and your credentials and your experience and your work on the Riddle case and all the work you've done since and the fact that you've got your own successful firm when you're barely in your thirties. Shut your mouth about your _name._ You know that's not true." Priscilla looked at Remus when Sirius merely shrugged. "So is that why you're in town today? Looking for places?" Remus nodded. "Where are you looking?"

"Well, we're thinking Greenwich, of course—"

"Oh my _god_, Peter and I just found the most _amazing_ townhouse in Chelsea that we were thinking of moving to. He says we can't afford it, but he doesn't realize that I'm rich," Priscilla said casually. "Oh my god, we could be practically neighbors!"

"Well, living on that yard worker's salary isn't much," Remus said with a smile.

"Your father just promoted him, first of all, and second of all, I'm rich," Priscilla said again as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You know, there was this adorable street just outside the historic district in Chelsea, and I used to adore those houses there—"

"You mean the West twenties! I _love_ those houses! You have to convince Peter to let us move to Chelsea. I love it."

Remus laughed. "I'll try."

Priscilla sighed and leaned in to pick up some crayons to help Teddy color. "I am just so happy," she said.

* * *

"So, old Prissy's finally tying the knot again," James said as he leaned back in the client chair across from Sirius's desk during their lunch hour.

"Finally?" Sirius said, shaking his head at James. "It hasn't been _that_ long since we broke up."

"Yeah, well, you've been remarried for almost four years now."

Sirius frowned. "You know that's different."

James shrugged. "Anyway, to Pete? Man, I never thought I'd see the day when Priscilla Prewett would marry a guy who was not only lower middle class, but also an inch shorter than her and prematurely balding."

Sirius laughed. "Priscilla's different now. You should have seen her at lunch. She was practically glowing."

"Lily told me that Priscilla told her that Pete's good in the sack," James said conversationally. "Goes down on her like every day, apparently."

"James," Sirius said firmly.

"What?" James said, laughing. "Maybe that's what could have saved your marriage. If you'd just gone down on your wife more."

"Yeah, and if only my wife had had a dick down there instead of a vagina. That would have been no problem then."

"Right you are, my friend. Right you are."

A few moments of comfortable silence passed as James and Sirius ate their lunches. Eventually, Sirius spoke again. "I think I'm going to fire Meg."

"The intern? She's great, why? Gets me coffee all the time even when I don't ask."

"Well, that's just it," Sirius said, not looking at James. "She doesn't help anyone around the office except you, and… Well, James, don't tell me you haven't noticed the constant flirting."

James looked genuinely surprised. "I can't say that I have. Who with?"

Sirius blanched. "With you, idiot!"

"Me?" James was looking more surprised by the minute. "I'm married."

"Like that's ever stopped anyone."

James chuckled. "Oh, Sirius, don't fire the poor girl on my account. She's helpful and she's good at what she does. I'll have a talk with her and tell her she has to spread her time around with other people at the office more." James paused. "And as for the flirting… I mean, have you seen my wife? She's a sexy, feisty red-head who let's me do things that no decent man would repeat in the company of a lady," James said, gesturing towards Sirius. Sirius threw a wanton at James and James ducked away from it, laughing. "I'm just saying I'm not interested in any interns. Seriously," he added with a sincere look at Sirius.

Sirius regarded him for a moment. "Okay…" He paused and then looked at James with a mischievous look. "Now what kinds of indecent things are we talking about here…?"

James roared with laughter.

* * *

_A/N: For those of you who liked (/didn't hate) Priscilla in SV, you're welcome! I'm happy she's back, too._

_Next chapter:_

_"He doesn't know… about me… about this, does he?"_


	4. Foes

****_A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far! It's taking me longer than I thought to have updates for this story. I just have so many ideas, and I'm just trying to fit them all into the story at a time and place that makes sense. Let me know what you think!_

* * *

**Chapter Three**: **Foes**

Remus knocked on the door to his father's office when he got to Lupin Lawn Care. It felt strange to be back. After Teddy had been born, Remus had taken a leave of absence from the job, too afraid to leave Teddy in someone else's care because she had been a premature baby and Remus was still always so worried about her. But now that they would be moving back to the city, Sirius had convinced him that it was time they got Teddy a nanny or sent her to daycare. Remus had agreed and called his father the next day to tell him that he was ready to come back. And so here he was at his father's request, back at LLC to get his bearings once more.

"Come in," Remus heard his father's muffled voice on the other side of the door.

"Hey, dad," Remus said as he entered.

"It's so good to see you, son," John Lupin said as he stood up to greet his son in the middle of the office with a hug. Remus clasped his father tightly. He hadn't realized until this moment how much he'd missed seeing his father every day. "Where's Teddy?" John asked as he gestured for Remus to take the seat in front of his desk.

"She's with Lily and Harry today," Remus said as he sat across from this father. "They went to the Bronx Zoo."

"Perfect day for it," John commented.

Remus made a sound of agreement and a slightly uncomfortable silence fell between them.

"So, you're ready to come back to work?" John finally asked, breaking the silence.

Remus nodded. "I miss it," he said.

John chuckled. "I never thought I'd hear that from you."

"Yeah, well," Remus said with a shrug, smiling. "So when did you want me to start back? Sirius and I are looking for a place in the city, but it might be a few weeks before we'll actually be back…"

John held up a hand. "Don't worry about it. Just take your time. I actually wanted to talk to you about your job."

Remus frowned. "Do you not have room for me? I mean, I would understand if you don't. I've been gone for three years. I wouldn't expect to just get my job back—"

"No, no, no," John said, shaking his head. "It's not that at all. Of course you're going to work here again."

"So…?"

"Well, I thought you might want a promotion."

"I hardly deserve a promotion, dad. I haven't even been here."

"That doesn't matter," John said patiently. "You were here for ten years before you took leave, and you're my son… And, well… Your mother and I talked it over…" John smiled—a rare sight for the stern (but loving) man. "We think it's time I retired."

"Oh?" Remus said slowly, not sure if he was fully grasping what his father was saying.

"Yeah. Your mother says it's time I stopped working so many hours when I'm in my sixties," John said. "Of course, I told her I still feel like a man of thirty, but she wasn't hearing it." Remus chuckled and John went on. "You realize what I'm asking, don't you?"

"I don't know…" Remus admitted it. He didn't want to say the wrong thing.

"Remus, it's time you took over," John said simply. "This is a family business. When I started this company twenty years ago, I always imagined that one day you would take it over. I built this for you and your family. I want this to go to you."

"Dad, I…"

"Of course, it's up to you," John said quickly. "Running a business isn't for everyone."

"No, I…" Remus didn't quite know what to say. "I'm honored, dad. Of course I'll take over."

John smiled again. "I hoped you'd say that." He clapped his hands together and reached down into his desk to pull out a stack of papers. "Of course, there's a lot to go over, but whenever you're ready, it's yours."

"I'll have to talk to Sirius about it, but I want this. I'm ready."

"Wonderful," John said as he put the papers in the corner of his desk. Remus noticed the post-it on them. _For Remus_, it said. For some reason, that post-it made Remus feel emotional. "Well, there are a lot of new people here, and I've got some really good new workers in particular," John was saying. "Ephraim is a great worker. He's got incredible promise." Remus just nodded along, hardly hearing anything. Remus didn't know how it had happened but his legs had apparently managed to make him follow his father out of the office. He was just so overwhelmed! He had always known that one day LLC would be his, but he certainly hadn't prepared himself for it today. "Ah, Ephraim," Remus heard John say. "This is Remus, my son."

Remus looked up into the piercing caramel eyes of a man who seemed to be several years younger than him. He had dark skin and a shiny, bald head. He was as tall as Remus, making Remus catch himself off guard when their eyes met levelly. He smiled warmly as he extended his hand to Remus.

"I'm Ephraim," he said in a deep, raspy voice.

"Remus," Remus said, pulling his hand away and thinking the man had held it for a bit too long.

"Nice to meet you."

* * *

About an hour later, Remus was walking into a secluded café in a quiet neighborhood in lower Manhattan. He had left LLC feeling tired and overwhelmed, but he had a lunch date today that he definitely had to keep.

When he got into the café, he walked to the back where he normally sat. He greeted the woman at the counter as he passed who told him she would have his green tea ready for him soon. Over the past year, Remus had been a fairly frequent guest to this hidden gem—the Three Broomsticks, it was called, though he wasn't sure where the name came from. Almost every time he came into the city, he'd end up at this café.

"Do you want the eggplant today?" the woman from the counter said as soon as she brought over Remus's green tea.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks, Rose."

"Sure. Will he be here soon or is it just you?" Rose asked, gesturing to the empty seat across from him.

"He should be here soon."

"Okay great," she said. "I'll put on a fresh pot."

As soon as Rose walked away, Remus sat back sipping his drink, feeling the familiar feeling he got each time he was here. He started to feel a little edgy and as if he was outside of his body looking on. Though some days he couldn't name it, he was pretty sure that feeling was guilt.

The bell above the door tinkled, and Rose greeted the tall, slender, olive-skinned man who entered. Remus kept his eyes down, not noticing the man enter—too lost in his own thoughts. So when the chair across from him scraped against the floor, Remus's head snapped up.

"Hey," Remus said to the man.

"Hey," the man said back. He brushed his hair out of his face as he sat down across from Remus.

A few minutes later, Rose had brought the man a cup of coffee and had started their food orders as the two men sat and chatted.

"So, are you excited to move back to the city?" the man asked when they were well into the conversation.

"I don't know," Remus said, staring into his cup. "I have mixed feelings."

"Why's that?"

"Well, I don't know." Remus shrugged. "I like living in the city and I do miss it, but—"

"You love the Highland house."

Remus looked up at the man. "Yes," he breathed. "It's just with the city comes complications that never seem to arise in that house. It's like its own world up there where almost nothing bad can happen. But here…"

"I know what you mean," the man responded as he sipped his coffee. "Is Sirius excited?" he asked, not looking at Remus. Remus's eyes, however, remained on the man.

"I think so," Remus said. "Well, he's excited about his job, and he… well, he doesn't really have the same connection to Highland that I do."

"I'm sure he does," the man said. He still didn't look at Remus. "He may not have grown up there with you, but I'm sure that's the place where he's been the happiest in his life." The man shrugged.

"Yeah," Remus said, brow creasing as he continued to study the man in front of him.

After a bit, Rose brought their food over. Remus picked up his sandwich but paused as he looked up through his eyelashes and saw the man looking down, muttering a quick prayer. Remus should have been used to this by now. Every time he and this man ate together, a prayer was always said. Still, Remus didn't know what he should do. Was he supposed to pray, too, or wait to begin eating until the prayer was finished or just act like he didn't notice…? John and Stella Lupin hadn't raised Remus to be religious, and Sirius wasn't religious either, so he was never quite sure.

Remus sat with the man while they ate and talked about various unimportant things. He asked about Teddy, and Remus told him about Lily's pregnancy. They talked about Remus taking over his father's business, and they talked about the mentor work the man was currently doing with troubled youths. After a while, they were finishing up their meal and a small span of silence had fallen over their table. Their plates had been cleared, and the man downed the last drink of his fifth or sixth cup of coffee (Remus had lost count) before he spoke.

"He doesn't know… about me… about this, does he?"

Remus regarded the man for several moments before he answered. "No."

The man nodded.

Remus opened his mouth to speak again, but just then Rose came over to check on them and when she left, the man stood up and threw a wad of cash on the table. "Well, I'll see you soon, Remus."

"Yeah," Remus said. "Soon."

* * *

"Remus?"

"Something smells good," Remus responded as he threw his jacket on the couch and walked into the kitchen where he found Sirius in an apron, cooking, and Teddy sitting on the counter, swinging her little legs and watching her father cook.

Remus kissed Teddy on the forehead when he came in before he walked up behind Sirius and Sirius craned his neck so he could meet Remus's lips with a kiss. It had been hours since Remus's lunch date. He'd spent the rest of the day in the city, looking for places to live. He just wanted to find one that made him feel as at home as this house did.

Remus sat down on a stool at the bar they had in the middle of their kitchen and watched Sirius with almost the same reverence that Teddy did.

"How was your day, babe?" Sirius asked, his back to Remus as he worked at the stove.

"Good. Fine."

"How did it go back at LLC?" Sirius asked. He licked one finger and then wiped it on his apron as he turned to face Remus.

"Uh, great, actually," Remus said. He looked down at his hands. "Dad wants me to take over the business," he said quietly.

"That's—wait, what?" A smile broke across Sirius's face. "Remus!"

Remus looked up at him and smiled.

"Are you serious?" Sirius asked him. When Remus nodded, Sirius walked quickly over to him and bent over a bit to hug him tightly. "Oh, Remus," he said when he pulled away. "I'm so happy for you."

"Yeah?"

"Of course! When do you start?"

"Well, I don't know." Remus stood up and walked over to Teddy so he could pick her up and carry her over to where he sat.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked as he turned back to the food he was preparing.

When Remus put Teddy on the counter in front of him as he sat back on the stool, she took his glasses off and started playing with them. They were new to him, and he only wore them for reading and driving, so he didn't mind when she took them off his face. "Careful, honey," Remus said to her before he addressed Sirius. "Well, I don't know if I'm going to do it. At first I was excited, but then I started thinking it over."

"Remus, don't start."

Remus laughed. "What?"

"Let's just talk about it later." He turned around and looked at Teddy as if to say they shouldn't talk about it in front of her, and Remus nodded. "Anyway, what else were you up to in the city? You couldn't have been with your father for all that time."

"Uh, no, yeah, I was just going around looking at different neighborhoods and buildings," Remus said, leaving out the part about his lunch date.

"Did you find anything?"

Remus sighed. "Well, nothing that I absolutely love. Don't do that, baby girl," Remus said, stopping Teddy from bending back his glasses.

"Well, we'll keep looking. We aren't moving unless we find a place that we love as much as this place," Sirius said. He turned back around and leaned on his elbows on the counter. He reached forward to take one of Remus's hands in his.

"We're moving," Remus said. "There won't be a place that I love as much as this place, but we'll find one that's close enough. I'll be damned if I'm going to let you use that as an excuse not to move."

Sirius brought Remus's hand up to his mouth and kissed it. "What did I do to deserve you?"

Remus smiled. "I just like your face mostly." Sirius rolled his eyes.

* * *

"So, what's the deal, Remus?"

Sirius walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist, ruffling another towel in his hair as he stood in the steaming doorway. Remus looked up at him over his glasses and admired his torso briefly before he took the glasses off and set them on top of the book in his lap. "With what?" Remus asked.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You know what. Why on earth are you even slightly questioning taking over LLC? You love that place, and I know you want it."

"Well… I don't know, Sirius… With you starting the job at NYU and your work at the firm on top of it… I mean, Teddy—"

"Okay, say no more." Sirius walked over to their dresser and pulled out a pair of black boxer briefs. "I'm tired of this bullshit with Teddy, Remus," Sirius said as he pulled his towel off and slipped into his underwear. "I've let it go on long enough. Teddy is fine. She was sick when she was a baby, yes, but she's perfectly healthy now, and you don't need to be worried about her 24/7. She's almost four. It's time we sent her to daycare or got her a nanny. Or both."

"Sirius—"

"No, Remus," Sirius said angrily as he yanked a t-shirt over his head and walked back into the bathroom. "I'm not going to let you put your life on hold because you think she needs our constant care," Sirius said as he pulled out his toothbrush and spread toothpaste on it. "I lub her ash mush ash you do," Sirius said with the toothbrush in his mouth. "Bud I know that she doeshn't shtill need ush like she ushed to. Shtop making that eck-cushe."

"I'm not, Sirius," Remus said while Sirius finished up brushing his teeth. "I just… I don't know I worry about her."

"So do I," Sirius said after he spit. As he began to gargle, Remus kept talking.

"I know. And I know I can't always be around her, but moving is going to be a huge transition, and if her dads are never around…"

Sirius spit again, wiped his mouth, and turned off the bathroom light as he walked back into their bedroom and sat on the side of the bed facing Remus. "Remus, we will be around. It's not like we're going to disappear, but she needs to start realizing what it will be like when one of us isn't around her at all times. Unless you plan on going to school with her?" Remus shook his head and looked a bit sheepish as Sirius continued. "We'll make it gradual at first. How about this? Two days out of the week she'll spend it either with you at work or with me, and the other three weekdays, we'll send her to daycare during the day and a nanny in the evenings until we come home. My cousin Dora is going to school for child development right now. She's been asking me if she can get some practice hours in by nannying for Teddy, but we didn't really need her until now. She'll be perfect. She's great with kids and Teddy knows and loves her already. It doesn't have to be so drastic. And look, Remus," Sirius leaned forward and put a hand on his leg. "I know you're stressed out about moving. I know you don't want to leave this house, and honestly, I'm not too wild about leaving either. We can hold off. NYU isn't going anywhere."

"No." Remus shook his head. "You're right. We can't always be around Teddy, and Dora would be perfect. But you're not right about NYU. The school might always be there, but this job won't. I'm stressed yes, and yeah I love this house, but really, this house isn't going anywhere either. We're moving."

Sirius nodded. "Okay. Look, I'll call Dora tomorrow and we'll get everything figured out. I'll make sure that our girl is taken care of, okay? When have I ever led you astray?" Sirius said as he moved to his knees and crawled up the bed toward Remus.

"Never."

"And don't I always take care of you?" Sirius asked as he moved Remus's book and glasses to the side table.

"Yes."

"And don't you know that I would never do anything that didn't make you happy?"

Remus nodded while Sirius straddled him and leaned in so he could kiss along Remus's jaw.

"And don't I love you more than anything on earth?" Sirius asked as he pulled back and lifted Remus's shirt over his head before he quickly got rid of his own. Again, Remus nodded.

"And don't you trust me?" Sirius said against Remus's chest right before his mouth was on one of Remus's nipples. Remus hissed as he tipped his head back and began to move his hips to get a bit more friction for his hardening length. "Don't you?" Sirius said as he bit Remus's nipple.

"Yes," Remus breathed.

And soon all their clothes were gone and after Sirius spent some time in between Remus's legs, making Remus whine and beg for more, Remus was on his stomach, grabbing, clawing, biting, and punching the pillow beneath him as Sirius brought him to and over the edge twice.

When they finished and cleaned themselves off, Remus got up to get a glass of water. He thought Sirius would be snoozing by the time he got back, but he found his husband staring up at the canopy above their king sized bed with one arm on his stomach and the other bent behind his head.

"I thought you'd already be half asleep," Remus said as he took off the robe he'd put on to walk through the house and crawled back into bed with Sirius naked. He offered Sirius the water, but he just shook his head. "Something's on your mind," Remus observed aloud as he moved to lay next to Sirius. He laid on his side with his elbow bent and his head propped up on his hand. After several moments of silence with Remus simply watching Sirius, Sirius looked at him.

"You want more kids," Sirius said. It was a simple statement of fact with no tone behind it that Remus could pick up on. Remus shrugged.

"I hadn't really thought about it before Lily said something, but yeah maybe," Remus said. "It'd be nice if Teddy had a brother or sister." Sirius nodded and looked away from Remus again, clearly deep in thought. "But I'm happy with the one we've got. I won't be unhappy if we don't have more." Sirius nodded again but said nothing. "I mean, it doesn't have to be right away either… I mean, if… Teddy's still young and we went through a lot with her, so, no, I mean, we could wait… if…" Sirius didn't say anything and Remus let out a sigh of frustration before he turned to lay on his stomach and face away from Sirius. "Well if you don't want to talk, then we won't." Remus reached up and turned off the lamp beside his bed so that their room became dark. For a while, neither of them spoke, and Remus just laid there, facing away from Sirius and seething. This happened a lot when they fought or had serious discussions. Sirius would go into deep thinking mode and not say anything. Remus usually didn't mind it and let it run its course until Sirius could figure out what he wanted to say, but other times it annoyed and frustrated him. Like now.

As soon as Remus started to feel sleep coming on a bit later, Sirius shifted in the bed. He moved close to Remus and put an arm around his waist and his mouth close to Remus's ear. "Remus," he said. He kissed Remus's shoulder. "Remus," he said again. Remus turned his head so he was facing Sirius. His eyes had adjusted so he could make out most of Sirius's features in the dark, but he couldn't read what he was thinking or feeling. "I love you," Sirius said. He leaned in to kiss Remus before Remus could say anything back. After he pulled away, Sirius buried his face into Remus's neck and his eyes fluttered closed.

A few minutes later, heavy breathing from Sirius indicated that he had fallen asleep. Remus didn't know what to think. He shifted his body slowly so he could move to his side and not disturb Sirius. He brushed Sirius's hair out of his face and watched him sleep. _What is going on inside that head of yours, Sirius Black?_ Remus thought to himself. He supposed he would just have to wait a little longer to find out. After several more minutes of just watching Sirius sleep, Remus leaned in and kissed Sirius's forehead before he cuddled up close to his husband and allowed sleep to take him as well.

* * *

_Next chapter:_

_Who's the mystery man?_


	5. It's Not Me, It's You

****_A/N: Again, sorry for being so slow with the updates. I promise I'm trying to get better! Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 4**: **It's Not Me, It's You**

"_You really do look breathtaking." _

"_Remus," Lily said, blushing. _

_But Remus was right. Lily was wearing a long, form-fitting, strapless wedding gown with pearl beading and lace. She had pulled her hair down for the reception so down it was cascading in big, loose, red curls around her shoulders. Her milky, lightly freckled skin looked flawless in the lighting of the hall. _

"_And James…"_

"_Don't tell me you think he looks good, too," Lily said with a laugh. "You'll make me jealous."_

_Remus laughed. "No, I was going to say that he's hardly been able to keep his eyes off you all night. Look." He nodded over her shoulder, and she turned a bit in his arms to see James looking at her from where he was dancing with one of Lily's bridesmaids. They smiled at each other before Lily turned back to Remus. _

"_He loves me, doesn't he?" Lily said to Remus._

"_He really, really does." Remus hugged Lily a bit tighter as they swayed with the music. "Not as much as I love you, though." _

"_Oh, Remus," Lily said into his chest. "You know you'll always be my best guy." _

"_Oh, please. With Harry and James… I don't stand a chance." _

_Lily leaned back and looked at Remus. "Yeah, they're pretty great. But you're my best friend." Lily stood on her tiptoes to kiss Remus on the cheek. "Ugh, it isn't fair," she said when she stood flat on her feet again and looked at Remus._

"_What?"_

"_My wedding isn't half as romantic and adorable as yours was." _

_Remus laughed. "That's not true."_

"_Oh please," Lily said. "How can my normal hetero wedding possibly compare to a gay wedding with a man who was in the closet for most of his life but decided to give up the life he knew for you? We didn't stand a chance," Lily said, mimicking what Remus had said earlier._

_Remus laughed and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Remus glanced over and saw Sirius holding their year old daughter on his lap—although she looked younger than her cousin Harry who just about nine months old—as she smiled and laughed at Harry who was sitting on his Aunt Petunia's lap trying to grab at a toy that she was holding above his head. Remus smiled. _

"_We're lucky aren't we?" Lily said to Remus. _

"_Unimaginably," Remus responded. "Petunia looks great by the way," Remus said when he glanced over at her and then back at Lily. "Though the dude she brought with her…"_

"_Ugh, _Vernon_," Lily said with an eye roll. "I don't know _what_ she sees in him, but you know, I think she's just getting tired of not being married, and now that I am…"_

"_Oh, sibling rivalry," Remus said with a chuckle. "You know," Remus said, changing the subject. "I remember when you said you never wanted to get married." _

_Lily sighed and smiled. "Yeah, I remember that, too." Then she winked at Remus. "But that was before I met the man of my dreams." Then after a moment, "Why, Remus Lupin, you sap."_

_Remus laughed and blinked back the tears that had begun to form in his eyes. "I can't help it," he said. "I always cry at weddings."_

* * *

"So, have you talked about it since?"

It had been a week since Remus and Sirius had had their small pseudo-discussion about having kids. Remus called it a "pseudo-discussion" because he had done most of the talking and absolutely nothing had gotten resolved. In the week since, Remus had waited for Sirius to bring up children again, but he hadn't. He didn't really know what the big damn deal was about having more kids, but he couldn't know what Sirius's reservations were because he wouldn't talk to him.

Now, Remus was having lunch with Lily in the city with Teddy and Harry who were chatting with each other while they colored, and Remus had explained everything to Lily.

"No! He won't bring it up, and since he's the one with the issue, I figured I'd let him bring it up."

"Oh, don't be such a coward, Remus! Bring it up yourself."

"I'm not being a coward, Lilith," Remus said, referring to her by the "nickname" he sometimes used for her when she frustrated him. He knew she hated it.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Then talk to him about it tonight."

"Whatever," Remus said. Then he changed the subject. "Baby names?"

"Well…" Lily said, then a smirk developed slowly on her face and Remus knew she was about to say something ridiculous. "I like Harry for a boy… Harriet for a girl." Remus just shook his head as Lily laughed. "What? You know I hate the naming thing. Harry didn't have a name until two weeks after he was born."

"Yeah, I still remember ol' no-name," Remus said with an eye roll.

Lily laughed. "I'm not like most women, Remus. I don't care what my baby is named, really. And James doesn't care either."

"Lily," Remus said sternly. "I'm not going to allow my next niece or nephew to go nameless the way Harry did."

Lily giggled. "Okay, I was just being dumb. I think we actually do know what we want to name him or her."

Remus sat up straighter in his chair excitedly. "Okay! Now we're talking."

Lily rolled her eyes. "If it's a girl, James suggested Rose. You know, continuing the tradition of flower names in my family."

Remus nodded and smiled. "I like that." Though at the mention of the name "Rose," Remus was suddenly reminded of a small café on the other side of town, and his stomach started to turn in knots.

"Well, you look like you're about to throw up, so I'm going to assume you're just saying you like it to spare my feelings," Lily said with a raised eyebrow.

Remus chuckled and shook his head. "No, I just knew someone named Rose once."

"Oh…" Lily said slowly, but she gave him a look like she didn't believe him. "Anyway, for a boy… I wanted to run this by you first, actually." Remus nodded, and Lily said, "Well, I want to name him John. For you."

Remus felt like his heart had stopped and then plummeted to his butt. His mouth fell open slightly, and his eyes went slightly wide. All he could do was stare at Lily for those moments. She was his best friend, and through everything she had been by his side. She was with him through the ups like Sirius and the downs like Severus. She was there when he was just a young kid trying to understand why he liked boys instead of girls. She was there at his wedding, and she was there when they'd brought Teddy home. And now, after she'd been there for him through everything, she was going to do him this honor of naming her son for him. He was overwhelmed.

"Lily…"

"I mean, I know that it's your family's name, and you might want to name your son that one day, but I… I don't know, I just really love you and I want my child to know that you're one of the most important people in my life, and… Well, Remus, I don't know. I just thought 'John Orion' would show our baby how important you and Sirius are to us, and… Oh, I don't know—"

"Lily," Remus said as he reached out and put his hand on top of hers. "Stop rambling. I would be… more than honored if you named your son John." He smiled. "Though Sirius might be pissed that he didn't get the first name."

"I would never name my son 'Orion,'" she said with a mock shudder. Then, "But are you sure? I mean, if you have other kids—"

"Don't worry about that," Remus interjected. "There are other names." He paused. "And besides. We probably won't have more kids." Then, without warning, Remus was suddenly overcome with sadness. The thought of never having more children was suddenly too much for him to handle. His breathing started to pick up and his hands started shaking.

"Remus?"

"Daddy, what's wrong?"

He could feel tears burning in the backs of his eyes. He wanted more kids, and until this moment, he hadn't realized just how much. He loved Teddy more than anything and it wasn't as if she wasn't enough, but he had always wanted a big family. Growing up an only child had been outrageously lonely for him. He had longed for a brother or sister to talk to when his parents simply couldn't understand. His father had always been cold and distant, and his mother was air-headed and flighty. He'd longed for someone to listen, especially during the times when he'd felt most scared and confused. Lily had been the perfect substitute, but he had always longed for more. He was so distracted by the thoughts swirling around in his head that he couldn't even feel the tears flowing from his eyes. Lily, children, the move, the secrets… It was all just becoming too much.

Then, there was a small arm around his neck and a weight in his lap, and he was finally brought from his stupor. He could faintly feel Lily by his side, a hand on his knee, whispering words of comfort, but what had his full attention was the little black-haired girl that had crawled from her seat and into his lap. Her little hand was rubbing his neck while her other hand was on his cheek.

"It'll be okay," her little voice was saying. "Don't cry, Daddy. It's okay." Remus looked into her gray eyes as he put an arm around her. He wiped away his tears quickly and smiled at her. "Why are you sad?"

"I'm not, honey."

"But you're crying."

"Sometimes daddies just have to cry."

"I like crying."

Remus laughed and poked her stomach. "You do?"

Teddy giggled. "Yes. Because when I cry, you and daddy always make me feel better. I like that."

A look of dawning and happiness came over Remus's face. It was amazing how quickly everything could change with just a few simple words from his beautiful little girl. Not a moment ago, he'd thought that he would be miserable without more children. Now—although he still wanted more—he knew that if he didn't have more, the little girl standing in his lap would be more than enough. She was perfect.

Remus kissed his daughter's cheek and moved her so she was sitting in his lap rather than standing. "You make me feel better," he said. Teddy smiled up at him. He then turned to his best friend. "I'm sorry, Lily," he said. Teddy was still looking up at him with concern in her big, gray eyes.

Lily gave him a stern look before she looked at Teddy. "Your daddy is sad because he wants you to have brothers and sisters."

"Lily!"

Lily ignored him as Teddy spoke. "I don't need a brother," she said with a shrug. "I have Harry."

Lily's face softened immensely. She looked up at Remus. "God, she is sweet." Remus laughed as Lily looked back down at Teddy. "But don't you want _more_ brothers? Or a sister?"

"Will my sister have long hair?"

Lily gave her a strange look. "Maybe. Why?"

"I like long hair."

"Well, she might have long hair or short hair or curly hair or straight hair, but she'll be your sister and you'll love her no matter what. And she'll love you."

"That sounds nice."

"Harry is going to get a brother or a sister soon."

"He is?" Teddy looked at Harry who was swatting at a butterfly in front of him.

Lily nodded. "Yep."

"Then I want one, too."

Lily arched an eyebrow at Remus before she spoke to Teddy again. "Well, you should tell your other daddy that you would be so happy if you got a brother or sister."

"Lily," Remus said in a warning tone.

Lily ignored him. "What do you say?"

"Can we call him now?" Teddy said.

"Teddy—"

Lily laughed and cut Remus off. "No, just tell him when you get home, okay?"

Teddy smiled and nodded eagerly. "Okay."

A few minutes later, Teddy was back in her seat coloring and talking to Harry when Remus turned to Lily.

"You can't turn my daughter against her father."

Lily shrugged. "Who said anything about turning anyone against anyone? You want another kid, and who better to persuade your mate than a charming, adorable, big-eyed three year old."

Remus just shook his head. Though he had to admit she had a point.

* * *

_Sirius smiled and stretched, reaching out for Remus. It was still the middle of the night, but he had been woken up by a fantastic dream that involved Remus in between his legs, and when he'd woken up magnificently hard, he had hoped Remus would be there to make his dream come true. _

_No matter how good his Remus dreams were, it was never quite like the real thing, and middle of the night sex—with both men pawing and clawing at each other mercilessly just trying to reach their mutual climaxes as fast as possible so they could fall back to sleep in a foggy, sex-fueled haze—was often Sirius's favorite. There was nearly nothing like waking up to Remus smiling up at him, mouth already around his cock. It was second only to it's opposite—long, drawn out sex that made them both crazy with desire while teetering on the edge for what could sometimes be hours that usually left either one or both of them in tears due to the fierceness of their orgasms. _

_They hadn't had that kind of sex since Teddy had come home with them. God, he missed it._

_But Sirius would settle for his second favorite since it was two in the morning, but he still constantly longed for the day that he could have his favorite kind again. _

_When Sirius's arm stretched to Remus's side of the bed, however, he was met with nothing but bunched up sheets and blankets. He blinked his tired eyes until they were open fully, and he sighed when he saw that Remus wasn't in bed, knowing exactly where his husband was. _

_Sirius rolled over and swung his legs over the bed so he could sit up. He rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes before opening them and searching for his boxers that had gotten thrown onto the floor somewhere when Remus had yanked them just a few hours before. He could remember Remus on his knees in between his legs earlier trailing kisses along Sirius's outstretched leg before pulling off Sirius's boxers, pulling Sirius roughly so he was on top of Remus and guiding Sirius inside him so Sirius could thrust in and out hard and fast, Remus begging him not to stop until one final thrust had Remus crying out Sirius's name as Sirius spilled himself inside Remus with a loud grunt. _

_His dream had been some kind of continuation of that sex hours ago, and Sirius had woken up desperate for more, but he could slowly feel himself falling out of the mood as he padded across the white carpet. _

_When he got to the doorway of their bedroom, he looked down the hall and saw a dim sliver of light coming out from under the door of the room at the end of the hall. He ran a hand through his hair as he walked down the hall, trying to calm himself so he wouldn't snap at Remus when he got in there. He knew he had to be patient. _

_Sirius got to the end of the hallway and opened the door slowly. Remus's back was to him as he rocked in a rocking chair in the corner of the room, singing softly as he did so. Sirius smiled to himself. John Lupin was a big classic rock fan, so Remus had grown up listening to all the greatest rock bands. Remus was a music buff, but the only band of which he knew all the words to all the songs was the Rolling Stones. It was always strange when Sirius heard "Gimme Shelter" being sung as a lullaby._

_Sirius walked over to Remus and leaned over the back of the rocking chair so he could kiss Remus on his neck. His husband jumped a bit._

_He looked over his shoulder at Sirius. "You scared me." _

"_Sorry," Sirius said as he walked around the chair so he could squat down and kiss his daughter on her forehead before he moved to sit against the wall in front of Remus, his knees bent in front of him. He watched Remus. _

"_She was fussy," Remus said quietly in a tone that said someone had just accused him of something, though no one had. Sirius nodded but said nothing. "I heard her on the monitor, but I didn't want to wake you," Remus said, holding up the baby monitor that was practically attached to Remus at all times. Sirius looked at Edwynne but didn't say anything, although he wanted to mention the fact that the girl was hardly ever fussy. She had started teething about a month ago, but even then, the only thing she did was make a face at one of them when her teeth were bothering her. It worried Remus, but Sirius thought it was adorable and definitely preferable to the screaming that most children did. _

_She'd been with them for over six months now, and Remus had been like this the entire time. Up until about six weeks ago, almost every night Sirius found Remus in Teddy's room, holding her as she slept or watching her in her crib. He hardly worked at all even though his father had told him how much he needed his help over and over. Remus hardly ever let their child out of his arms, let alone out of his sight. For the first month or so, Remus did everything and would let Sirius do almost nothing. He was the one to feed and change her, to bathe and clothe her. Even now, he hardly ever let Sirius rock her to sleep or hold her for long periods of time before he insisted on taking her. But Sirius had been patient and understanding, knowing that Remus was just worried and protective. Yes, he'd been _more _than understanding. That was up until six weeks ago when Sirius had finally put his foot down. _

"_I'm tired of this, Remus!" he had shouted. "You're not her only father, and I _do_ exist, despite what you may think. I want to hold my daughter, I want to fuck my husband, and I… I can't do this anymore! Jesus Christ, Remus, we can't stop living our lives because our daughter was born premature!"_

_After that fight, Remus had cooled it a bit and promised that he would work on it. He had admitted to Sirius that he had gone overboard. Remus thought he was doing loads better with it, but Sirius thought it was only marginally better, and he was still constantly frustrated. The only thing that was different was the Remus was at least trying. _

"_Why are you up?" Remus asked after a long pause. _

"_Dream woke me up," Sirius said shortly._

_Remus frowned. "Bad dream?"_

_Sirius looked at him. "No it was good—great, in fact. I woke up hoping you'd be next to me, but…" He nodded toward Edwynne. He couldn't keep the bite out of his voice._

"_I'm sorry, Sirius. She was… just…"_

_Sirius held up a hand. "Don't bother, Remus." _

"_I don't understand why you're so mad," Remus whispered harshly. _

"_I'm not mad," Sirius said coolly. He didn't understand what _Remus_ couldn't understand. This wasn't how parenting worked! He understood she was born prematurely but surely that was no reason to forget that there was a life to be lived. For a long time, Sirius thought he was being insensitive and that he didn't love their daughter enough. It wasn't until he'd talked to Lily, James, and his therapist that he realized that wasn't true._

"_You are," Remus said. Sirius said nothing. Sirius watched Edwynne, slumbering peacefully in Remus's arms, while Remus watched Sirius. They sat in silence for several minutes before Remus spoke. "Sirius…"_

"_Until you understand the problems with this situation and what you're doing, there's nothing I can say to make you see it."_

_Remus opened his mouth and closed it several times but didn't respond._

_And with that, they had fallen into a tense silence for a long time until Sirius had finally gotten up and gone back to their bedroom. A few minutes later, Remus had followed. He came in quietly and set the baby monitor on his bedside table before climbing into bed carefully. Sirius felt Remus cuddle up close to him. _

"_Sirius?" he whispered. "Are you awake?" Sirius didn't respond, although he was wide-awake. He was still too angry to talk, and he'd been seething silently in the minutes that had passed since he'd gotten back in bed. And he'd meant what he said. There was nothing to be said until Remus understood that what he was doing wasn't okay. Sirius had already made it clear how he felt. Now it was time for Remus to come to the realization on his own. "Sirius…" Remus tried again. "You know I love you, don't you?" Sirius felt the ice wall that he had put up around his heart just moments ago begin to melt a fraction. "I love you more than anything," Remus whispered as he kissed Sirius's neck. "You're my everything," he said in between kisses. Sirius sighed and tilted his head a bit so Remus could keep doing what he was doing. "I'm working on it, I swear." Kiss. "I am, I'm—" Sirius turned over quickly, capturing Remus's mouth with his own._

"_Just shut up," Sirius said. _I'll worry about it tomorrow,_ Sirius thought as moved onto his back and pulled Remus on top of him. Remus made his dream come true after all._

* * *

"Are you going to be my sister now?"

Remus's eyes widened, and Sirius frowned at his daughter as he stood next to his cousin Dora in the doorway leading to the living room that Remus and Teddy were currently sitting on the floor of playing with some of Teddy's dolls. Sirius had called Dora to come in and spend some time with Teddy for the day so they could make sure it was a good fit, although they were already fairly certain that it would be.

"Teddy, this is your cousin Dora. You know that."

Teddy shrugged as she brushed the hair on one of her dolls. "I know. But daddy wants me to have a sister, so I thought Tonks would be it."

Sirius clenched and unclenched his jaw several times before he said, "Remus," in a warning tone.

Remus opened and closed his mouth several times before Tonks saved the day and came over to sit next Teddy. She laughed. "I'm not going to be your sister, Teddy, even though you'd be the perfect little sister." She looked up at Sirius. "Because you call me 'Tonks' instead of '_Dora_'." Sirius rolled his eyes at her as she turned back to Teddy. "I like your hair," Teddy was saying to her pink-haired cousin as Remus stood up and walked over to Sirius. He nodded toward the hallway. As soon as they were in the hallway, Sirius put one hand on his hip and used the other to gesture into the living room.

"What the hell was that, Remus?" he hissed.

"Sirius—"

"Do you think you're going to use Teddy to manipulate me into having more kids?" Sirius whispered harshly. "You can't just ambush me like that. We haven't even talked about it—"

"And who's fault is that?" Remus said lowly. "I tried to talk to you about it last week in bed, but you just ignored me."

"I just needed to think."

"And now this week you've been distracting me with sex every night so we won't have a chance to talk about it!" Remus said, fighting to keep his voice down. "Who's manipulating who again?"

The anger on Sirius's face faltered a bit. "I… Remus, I'm not trying to manipulate you. Not… Not intentionally anyway… I love having sex with you, obviously, but…" Sirius rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. "But maybe I have been trying to avoid having the conversation."

"Sirius, if you don't want to have more kids, just say so," Remus said quietly.

Sirius studied Remus for a moment before he looked down. "I just… I don't know, Remus."

Remus tried to keep his frustration at bay as he crossed his hands over his chest. "Well, do you want to talk about why?"

Sirius shook his head, one hand still on his hip and the other still clutching the back of his neck. "Not really."

Remus reached a hand up and pinched the bride of his nose. "Dammit, Sirius," he said in a harsh whisper. He looked up at Sirius. "This is a serious thing, and you can't just ignore it and hope I won't bring it up again."

"Remus…"

"Sirius, you'll have to explain it to me because I don't understand. Is it because of the relationship you had with your brother?"

"No."

"Okay, are you worried about the process? We've gone through it once, and you know there are tons of options. I mean, you're the one who explained all this to me the first time—"

"That's not it."

"Then god dammit, Sirius," Remus said angrily, taking a step forward and his voice raising only slightly, though still low enough so that Tonks and Teddy wouldn't hear. "What is it? Do you just not want more? Is it just the timing? I mean, you have to give me something. If it's—"

"It's you," Sirius breathed quickly.

Remus's anger fell, replaced by a look of hurt confusion on his face. "Me?"

Sirius ran a hand down his face. "Look, Remus, the last time we had a kid, you were like a different person. It's taken until this point to get you even close to being normal again. You let Teddy and all her problems and sicknesses consume you. That first year, you hardly slept, ate, or even talked to me or anyone because you were so worried about her."

"Well, sorry for being worried about my prematurely born child."

"Don't do that, Remus," Sirius said, taking a step closer to Remus. Remus reacted by taking a step back. "I'm sorry, Remus!" Sirius said, throwing his hands in the air. "You wanted to know why, and I'm telling you. I just… I can't… I'm afraid of what will happen if we have another kid. Will I lose you again? See, but this time it's different because not only would I lose you, but… Teddy would, too… And…" Sirius took a step closer again and this time, Remus didn't move back, so Sirius stepped until he was close enough to pull Remus's crossed arms apart. "Teddy needs you, and I need you, and I don't want you to get so absorbed with caring for another child that you forget about us… Remus…" Sirius brought a hand forward and lifted Remus's chin so he could look at him. "Remus, I love your big heart. It's one of the things I love most about you, but you can't let your love be a crutch, and if there's a chance that it will happen again, I don't want to do it."

Sirius tipped Remus's head back a bit and stepped forward so that they were pressed against each other as he brought his mouth to Remus's. At first, Remus just stood there stiffly, but after a moment he sighed and wrapped his arms around Sirius's neck as he opened his mouth to deepen their kiss. Sirius's arms slipped around Remus's waist so he could pull him tighter, and for several moments, they both got lost.

When Sirius finally pulled away, he kept his eyes locked on Remus's. "Of course I want more kids with you," Sirius said. "But not if it means that you'll go off into your own world and leave me alone."

"Sirius," Remus's voice shook when he spoke. "I'm so sorry… I knew it was bad with Teddy, but I never knew that you felt so abandoned." He leaned in and pecked Sirius on the lips. "I don't want to risk that, either. If we have more kids, I promise I won't leave you again. I'll go to therapy or something before it ever gets that bad. I just… I wish you would have told me."

"I tried. So many times."

"You never said it was like this."

"I didn't want you to feel bad for loving our daughter too much," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Well, if we have more kids and you see it happening, you have to promise to tell me because I might not see it," Remus said. Sirius nodded. "And I'm sorry for what Teddy said earlier. She overheard Lily and I talking the other day, and Lily… Well you know how she gets." Sirius smiled and nodded. "I just got a little upset, and things got out of hand. I'm sorry."

Sirius shrugged. "It's all right. I'm just glad we've cleared the air." Remus nodded and leaned in to kiss Sirius again.

Several moments later, they were standing in the doorway with their arms around each other's waists watching Tonks and Teddy play together.

"They look perfect together," Remus said, resting his head on Sirius's shoulder.

"Maybe she could be Teddy's sister after all," Sirius said with a smirk.

Remus elbowed Sirius in the stomach. "Dick."

* * *

Next chapter: We really will find out who that mystery man is!


	6. A House is Not a Home

_A/N: Hi! First of all, thank you so much to those that are sticking with this story. I know I've been slow, but I'm trying to get better! Please keep letting me know what you think so things don't lose focus. Second, I know that a few people have mentioned that the flashbacks are a bit confusing. I apologize if it's confusing, but it's necessary. At least for these beginning chapters, I want everyone to know what happened over the 3-4 years that we skipped over. If it helps, when you see a big chunk of text in italics, it is NOT happening in the present time of the story. Usually, I'll explain somewhere in the chapter how long ago it happened. If it's confusing, just let me know and I'll be happy to clear anything up. _

_Anyway, enjoy this next chapter!_

* * *

**Chapter 5: A House is Not a Home**

_Remus was grinning as he picked up his and Sirius's clothes off the ground of Sirius's office. He had promised Sirius—in a hot, breathy voice in his ear—that he would clean up after if Sirius would just bend Remus over his desk and take him. Sirius, although clearly going to give in, had protested that he had to be at work in a half hour and he was already going to be late. Remus, however, had promised it wouldn't take long as he pulled Sirius's cock out of his pants. His breathy protests of "Remus we don't have time" had quickly turned into "Fuck-shit-god-Remus" as they both reached the edge in record time. _

_Sirius had left his clothes behind and opted to instead have a two minute shower and change into whatever clothes were nearest to the bathroom before running out of the house. As soon as he was through the door, however, he'd run back quickly to give Remus a kiss before heading out again. _

_Now, Remus was back in Sirius's office, cleaning up as promised. He picked up Sirius's tie, which was laying at the foot of his desk, and he smiled and flushed as he remembered Sirius balling up the tie and shoving it roughly into Remus's mouth to stifle his husband's moans and cries and pleas so he wouldn't wake their still slumbering daughter. And when he picked up the t-shirt he had slept in, he saw that it was ripped at the collar where Sirius had yanked it to expose Remus's neck so he could bite and suck at his favorite spot. _

_Remus smiled to himself one last time before he took the clothes and headed out of Sirius's office. But just as he was about to close the door, he heard Sirius's office phone ring. He had a different line so as not to wake Remus or Teddy when James or other coworkers or clients needed to make a late night or early morning call. _

_Remus grinned as he walked over to the phone. He assumed it was Sirius, calling to make sure that he was keeping up his end of the bargain. _

"_Hello?" Remus said in an intentionally chipper voice. _

"Sirius?"

_Remus's smile slipped when he realized it was probably just a client or a coworker wondering when Sirius was going to be at the office. _

"_No, this is his husband. He just left. He should be—"_

"Husband?"_ the person on the other line said in a choked voice._

_Remus frowned. "Yes, this is Remus. Sirius's husband. Who is this?" The person on the other end was silent for several moments. "Hel—"_

"Yes, sorry. I'm just… I never thought… Anyway, um, sorry to have bothered you. I'll just—"

"_I can leave a message for Sirius if you'd like," Remus said._

"No, I…"

_The voice on the other end fell silent, and Remus waited. This was strange. Normally, Sirius's clients were more than happy to leave messages with him. After twenty seconds passed, Remus spoke again._

"_Hello?"_

"Yes. Yes, I'm here," the man said quickly. "I… I shouldn't do this, but…" he sighed. "You said your name was Remus?"

"_Yes."_

"And you're Sirius's… husband?"

_Remus sighed, recognizing that tone. He wasn't about to get into it with one of Sirius's clients about gay marriage. It wouldn't be the first time, but he was in far too good a mood due to his early morning exploits, and he didn't want that mood ruined by ignorance at 7am. "Yes, I'm his husband. Is there something you need, sir?" Remus said shortly, getting fed up. "You can reach Sirius at his office, I can—"_

"No, no, that won't be necessary." He paused. "Remus… I don't know if you know me, but my name is Andrew Underwood. I knew Sirius years ago. I just… Um… Man, I do not know how to say this."

"_Andrew?" Remus said slowly. Then everything dawned on him. "Like _Andrew, _Andrew?"_

"Um… yes?"

"_What are you doing?" Remus said, panicking. The last thing he wanted was an old flame—and Sirius's first gay experience—coming back into Sirius's life. What was happening? Why was he calling? Did he want Sirius back? And oh, god, now that he knew that Sirius was married to man, he would know that Sirius was willing to be in an openly gay relationship. This would open a door for Andrew that had always been closed. Andrew. _Andrew. _Good lord, Remus could not believe this was happening. "What do you want? Why are you calling here? Sirius is _married_ now. He—"_

"No, no, no, you misunderstand me, Remus. It's not… It's not about… anything like that. Like what you're thinking. I just… Look, would you want to me up with me? I would love to talk to you."

"_Why?" Remus narrowed his eyes although Andrew couldn't see him. There was a moment of silence before Andrew responded._

"Frankly, I was under the impression that Sirius would be a closet case for the rest of his life. I have to admit that I'm curious to meet the man that turned that all around." After a pause he said, "You must be something special."

_Although Remus was _extremely_ suspicious, he had to admit that he had always wanted to meet Andrew—wanted to know the man that had clearly had such an impact on Sirius's life. But could he do this? Should he tell Sirius? This… what the hell was he thinking? This was insane. The fact that he was even still on the phone with this man was beyond Remus's comprehension. But before he knew what was happening, he was agreeing to meet him for some completely unknown reason other than his own dark curiosity. _

"_How about this Wednesday evening? I know a great little café in the city."_

* * *

"I'm bored."

Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius. "I swear to god you are more antsy than our three-year-old child."

Sirius laughed. "I'm sorry! All these places just look the same to me."

"They are most certainly not the same."

"Let's just go with the last place."

Remus gave him a disgusted look. "Sirius, we literally saw a rat king in the alley when we were leaving."

Sirius laughed, even louder this time. "Okay maybe we shouldn't go with _that_ place, but can we just decide on something soon. I feel like I age thirty years each time we leave a place."

The realtor, a guy who had been in Sirius's fraternity in college, walked back into the room after finishing up with his phone call. "What do you think?"

Remus scrunched up his nose like he'd just smelled sour milk and shook his head.

"That's Remus's nice way of saying he hates it."

Apollo, the realtor, laughed and nodded. "On to the next place?"

Sirius groaned loudly like a petulant child. "Do we have to?"

Remus narrowed his eyes at him before he turned to Apollo. "Yes, please."

"How about this? Before we go, I'll take you to one of the old historic townhouses that I'm showing to one of my other clients. It's out of your price range, but it might be fun." Apollo looked at Sirius hopefully who just stared at him with a deadpan expression. Apollo chuckled. "Okay. Point taken. But it's still furnished and there are some beautiful Renaissance tapestries. Wife's a collector," Apollo said to Remus, who nodded.

"Well, I would love to see it," Remus said.

Apollo nodded with a smile. "I thought you would. And Sirius, if you're bored you can sit on one of their antique couches and wait until I'm done showing Remus around."

"Sounds great," Sirius said sarcastically.

Several minutes later, Apollo was putting the keys into the house while chatting up Remus about some of the historic houses in the area. Remus was awed by all of them just from the outside, and as soon as Apollo opened the door, the outside of the houses seemed to pale in comparison to what was inside.

Now, admittedly, some of the beauty had to do with the interior design of the place, but still, the high ceiling in the foyer and the wide, oak stairway that led up to the second landing and the old brick fireplace were sights to behold. Remus's mouth fell open and it stayed open as Apollo led them further and further into the house. The black wooden doors that led to each room, the granite countertops in the kitchen, the low-hanging Victorian lamps—everything left Remus feeling a bit dazed. It was magnificent.

Remus could practically see Teddy waddling across the hardwood floors. He could see himself and Sirius cuddled up on the couch in front of the fireplace on a cold winter night. He could see Sirius standing at the granite topped island in the center of the kitchen, chopping vegetables.

"It's beautiful," Remus breathed.

Apollo smiled. "Wait until you see the master bedroom."

Remus sighed and blinked slowly. "God, I don't know if my heart can handle it. No, you know what, let's just go to the next place. I can't stand to look at this place another second or I'll die of longing."

Apollo laughed. "Okay, okay." He turned to go, and as they walked back through the house, Remus couldn't help himself. He was walking a few steps behind Sirius and Apollo, who were chatting with each other, and when they got to the staircase, he ran up them quickly and quietly. He just had to see the rest of this magnificent house.

While the kitchen, dining room, family room, and one large bathroom were on the first floor, the second floor housed three bedrooms, another small room that could be a study, and another bathroom. When Remus got to the study, the images came back. For a moment, the desk in the room was Sirius's from the Highland House. He could see Sirius hunched over his computer, typing furiously, hair wild. Remus smiled. And then he got to the master bedroom, and he practically cried.

The painted ceiling was high and beautiful. A Victorian lamp hung from the ceiling and the walls were lined with old-fashion oil lamps. The bed was large and canopied, but the true beauty was in the windows. They were as tall as the ceiling and covered up by heavy, dark red and gold drapes. Remus walked over to the windows and threw open the drapes. The room was flooded with light, only making it more beautiful. He had a view of the street below and the historic neighborhood they were in. Remus sighed, wishing. If only.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist," A voice said from behind him. Remus looked over at the doorway from where he was lying on the bed. Sirius and Apollo had left him alone for several minutes and he had ended up on his back on the bed with one arm bent up behind his head. He'd gotten lost in his thoughts, imagining what it would be like if this room—this bed, this house—was his.

Remus sighed. "I know. It's just so incredible. Anybody on earth would be lucky to live here."

"Hmm, yeah," Sirius said as he walked up to the bed and joined Remus on it. He bent both arms and put them behind his head. "We are lucky."

"Oh," Remus said laughing. "We live here, do we?" He elbowed Sirius. "Just because we lay in this bed doesn't mean we're tenants."

"No, but the fact that I just wrote Apollo an enormous check would seem to point in the direction of tenancy."

The amusement from Remus's face slipped and he sat up in the bed and looked down at Sirius. "What do you mean, Sirius?"

Sirius shrugged from his lying down position. His eyes were closed and he looked completely at peace. "I mean we just bought this house."

Remus looked up at Apollo who was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, smiling at the two of them. Then he looked back down at Sirius. "We… But Sirius, we can't afford this place."

"Yes, we can."

"No… our price range…"

"That was just the price we agreed we'd spend. That's not the amount we're actually able to pay."

"Sirius," Remus shook his head and closed his eyes, still confused and overwhelmed. "Sirius we can't just _buy_ this place."

"Well, the check I wrote Apollo and the contract I signed downstairs say differently." Sirius finally opened his eyes to look at Remus. "All that's left is your signature."

"Sirius… Sirius, this doesn't make any sense."

"What doesn't?"

"How can we afford this? I can't—"

"I can," Sirius said simply. When Remus didn't say anything and just continued to look dumbfounded Sirius sighed and explained. "Remus, my parents gave me a trust fund. And as much as they wanted to take it away from me after I divorced Pris, it was moved fully to my name when I was 25. I also had an extremely well-paying job for four years and my firm is lucrative. That combined with your savings—"

"Which is next to nothing compared to what you have. Sirius, I don't want you to do this. I don't want you to spend all the money you have on this place."

"Trust me, I'm not."

Remus just gaped at him. He had always known that Sirius had a lot of money, but apparently he had never quite known the full extent of the money that had come from his trust. It was just something he hadn't really ever bothered to ask about.

But he didn't want this. He didn't want to feel indebted to Sirius. "Hey, Apollo, could you give us a minute?"

Apollo nodded. "Of course," he said before he made a hasty exit. Remus then looked back down at Sirius.

"What is it, Remus?"

"This is too much, Sirius."

"No, it's not."

"It absolutely is, and you know that, Sirius."

"Explain to me what I _know_, Remus."

Remus sighed in exasperation. "I mean, do I have to spell it out?" Sirius just raised his eyebrows. Remus sighed again. "I just… Sirius, I don't feel comfortable living in a house that _you_ bought with _your_ trust fund. It's not right. I didn't marry you for your money. I married you because I love you."

"And I love you," Sirius said, seemingly just as annoyed as Remus was. "But I saw your face when we walked in here, and I knew instantly that this was the place we had to live in. I live for the moments when I can make your face light up like that. If I can see that every day when we're here, that's worth far more than the cost of this house."

Remus tried not to melt like butter at Sirius's words. Even though they were all said in a frustrated tone, Remus was enraptured by the romance of it all. "Sirius…"

"Remus, look me in the eye and tell me you don't love this house."

"Well—"

"And look me in the eye and tell me that you love—or even remotely like—_any_ of the other houses we've looked at."

"Sirius—"

"_And_ look me in the eye and tell me that you couldn't fall in love with this place like you love the Highland House." Sirius raised an eyebrow. When Remus said nothing, Sirius continued. "That's what I thought. We have the money—"

"No, _you_ have the money. That's the point."

"No. The _point_ is that when we got married, what was mine became yours. So, _we_ have the money."

"Sirius…"

"It's the end of the discussion, Remus. Unless you can give me one good reason—" Remus opened his mouth but Sirius held up a finger. "—_other_ than money—that we shouldn't live here, we are moving here. I already signed the contract. I already gave Apollo a check. It's settled." Again, Remus tried to open his mouth to respond, but this time Sirius cut him off with a kiss.

"Sirius," Remus said in a muffled voice against Sirius's mouth. But when his mouth opened, Sirius slipped his tongue inside as he put a hand on the back of Remus's neck to pull him closer. They were at a slightly awkward angle on the bed, but that didn't stop Sirius from continuing what he was doing, nor did it stop Remus from getting temporarily distracted by the kiss. He wasn't going to let Sirius win that easily, but he was never able to resist the man.

"Sirius," Remus tried again when Sirius's mouth moved from his down to Remus's neck. Remus was breathing heavily and his skin was on fire, but he had more to say. "Sirius, you can't just…"—he moaned—"distract me… with your mouth… This is…" he released a sound that was half moan, half sigh as he pulled Sirius over so that he was straddling Remus's lap, and all the while, Remus continued to protest. "You always do this. You think you can just…Sirius… you think you can—oh!—distract me with sex every time we need to have a discussion."

"No," Sirius breathed against his neck. "I just know when the discussion is over," he said in between kisses and bites. "And nothing gets my sexual appetite up more than a _discussion_."

Remus chuckled breathily. He tilted his head to the side as Sirius continued his actions, but when he felt Sirius begin to slip a hand in between them, he reached his hand out to stop him.

"Stop," Remus breathed. "We can't do this here."

"Why?" Sirius said, trying to get his hand out of Remus's grip. "It's our house."

"Maybe, but this isn't _our_ bed."

"Who cares?" Sirius moved his other hand to try and get to his destination, but Remus stopped that one as well.

"I do, now get off," Remus said as he pushed Sirius off of him and rolled out from under him and off the bed. Sirius fell back onto the bed and sighed dramatically.

"Buzz kill," he said to Remus. Remus just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"You've already gotten your way enough today. It's time I put my foot down."

"I've hardly gotten my way," Sirius said with a pout. "I had to look at places for _hours_ even though I wanted to go home."

Remus sighed and smiled. "You were so patient today. I think there will be a reward in it for you tonight."

Sirius lifted his head off the bed as his eyes lit up and he looked at Remus. "Really? What kind of reward?"

Remus walked toward him as Sirius moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "You know that thing you like me to do?"

"I like everything you do," Sirius said, pulling Remus so that he was standing in between his legs.

"No, the one you _really_ like," Remus said, bringing his arms up so that he could cup Sirius's neck in his hands.

Sirius's eyes went slightly wide. "You mean—"

Remus nodded.

"I must have been a _really_ good boy today."

"You were," Remus said.

"Does this mean you'll sign the papers so we can move in here?"

Remus nodded. And with a happy yelp, Sirius jumped up and pulled Remus into a tight embrace.

"I could cry," Sirius said into Remus's neck.

"You really love this place, too?" Remus said.

"Sure, but really I'm just happy we can stop looking around this godforsaken city."

Remus just rolled his eyes.

* * *

"So you finally found a place?"

Remus nodded as he stirred his tea. "It's a beautiful place, truly."

"Maybe I'll get to see it some day."

Remus looked up at the man sitting across from him at the Three Broomsticks. Remus swept his light brown hair out of his face. "Andrew…" he said slowly.

The man held up a hand. "No, no, I get it, I do." He laughed humorlessly. "I mean, if an old lover of a guy I was married to suddenly came back around, I would be suspicious, too." Then he looked up at Remus. "But don't you think two months is a long enough time to be vetted?"

Remus sighed. In truth, he had known a month ago that he was taking too long to make up his mind. When they'd met for coffee the first time at this place that Remus loved so much, Andrew had agreed to Remus's terms that he couldn't try to contact Sirius until Remus decided it was okay. He had been shocked that Andrew had even agreed, but that had been Remus's first clue that Andrew had no ulterior motives. And the fact that he had put up with Remus's neurotic unwillingness to let him talk to Sirius for over two months was also a testament to his motivations.

He knew there were many flaws in his plan. Not the least of which being the fact that if Sirius found out he was secretly meeting up with his old lover, he would be furious, and if he knew that Remus was basically making up Sirius's mind for him about whether he could meet up with Andrew would piss him off, too. Perhaps that was why Remus was taking so long to decide. He didn't know how he would tell Sirius about all this—how he would explain it in a way that would make Sirius understand and be sympathetic to why Remus needed to do this. And that's really what it was mostly about. Remus was under no delusion that his meeting with Andrew was all about Andrew meeting with Sirius. At the heart of the matter was the fact that Andrew had been Sirius's first ever gay experience, and since Remus had read that letter from him all those years ago, he had always been curious about Sirius's former lover.

At first, he truly hadn't trusted the man, and then he was able to justify these meetings. But Remus knew he was a good person and wasn't going to try and break him and Sirius up _(not that he even could if he tried_, Remus thought to himself). Though, still, Remus's one reservation was that he would never explicitly say why he had decided to come back into Sirius's life.

"_I just…" Remus paused. They had been talking for hours, but there was still one question burning in his mind that he couldn't let go of. _

"_What is it, Remus?" Andrew asked. _

_Remus looked up at him and studied him a moment before speaking. "Why now?"_

_He seemed startled by the question. After a moment he shrugged. "I went over a decade missing Sirius." When Remus gave him a look he hastened to correct himself. "Not missing him like _that, _just… missing him being in my life. So, I finally decided that enough was enough." He sighed. "Life is hard and short, and it's stupid not to try and be around the people you want to be around."_

_After a pause Remus said, "You broke up with your boyfriend didn't you?"_

_Andrew laughed, and Remus found the laugh very pleasant. It made him smile. "Yes, but that's not why I'm here. Not at all. I just want Sirius in my life again even if it's only in the smallest capacity. Life's too short."_

That was the straightest answer he'd gotten, and as far as he knew that was Andrew's only reason for wanting to be friends with Sirius. Admittedly, it made him suspicious, but the man had given him no reason not to believe he was being truthful.

"You're right," Remus finally said. "I know you are."

Andrew quirked his head. "So?"

Remus sighed and blinked slowly. "So, it's time I told Sirius about this. All of it."

Andrew nodded. "I think you're right. But how?"

Wasn't that the million-dollar question?

* * *

_Next chapter:_

_A few weeks pass, and our boys get settled into their new home._


	7. Does He Love You?

_A/N: Hi friends-thanks for all the reviews so far. I really love hearing from all of you. You guys are such loyal readers, and it feels great to know that there are people who are really enjoying this sequel. Thank you! Anyway, here's a MUCH quicker update. Let me know what you think!_

* * *

**Chapter 6**: **Does He Love You?**

_One Month Later_

Remus stretched out in his bed and turned his head so he could look out his large windows out into the neighborhood around him. The sun was shining brightly into the room and he smiled and stretched even more as he breathed in deeply and let the sent of coffee and a hot breakfast waft into his nose.

He, Sirius, and Teddy had been living in this new house for just a few weeks, but it already felt like home. Teddy's room was a disaster, littered with toys, and Sirius's office already looked like a war zone, with books stacked feet high, and papers scattered on every surface. Remus saw clothes falling out of drawers in his and Sirius's dressers, and the bed that Remus neatly made every morning was just a jumble of blankets and sheets due to his and Sirius's night. There were still a few boxes that needed to be emptied, but all in all, the new place already felt like home.

Remus reached down and pulled his pajama pants and boxers up so they would cover him. They had been pulled down just below his behind this morning so Sirius could have easier access when he'd woken up Remus in the best possible way that a man could be woken up. Remus stretched again, and went to tumble out of bed when a little black-haired toddler came running into the room and leapt onto the bed so she could hop on her father's stomach.

"—oomf!" Remus felt the wind leave him a bit as Teddy jumped on him.

"Daddy, wake up," Teddy said, bouncing. "Daddy's making French toast and bacon, and he says it's time you got your lazy butt out of bed."

Remus laughed. "Oh, he said that, did he?" Teddy nodded. "Well, we'll just have to teach Daddy a lesson, won't we?" Teddy nodded again, this time with even more excitement. Remus shook his head with a smile and swept the girl in his arms as he got off the bed. "Come on, you," he said as he carried her out of the room.

When they approached the kitchen, Remus heard the soft sounds of a band that he had loved forever and that he had gotten Sirius addicted to when they'd first met.

_A married man, he visits me,  
__I receive his letters in the mail twice a week.  
__And I think he loves me,  
__And when he leaves her, he's coming out to California._

_I guess it all worked out,  
__There's a ring on your finger, and the baby's due out.  
__You share a place by the park  
__And run a shop for antiques downtown_

_And he loves you,  
__Yeah, he loves you,  
__And the two of you will soon become three.  
__And he loves you,  
__Even though you used to say you were flawed if you weren't free._

Remus smiled as he put Teddy on her feet and put a finger to his lips to instruct her to be quiet. Teddy nodded vigorously, covering her mouth with her little hands to keep from giggling.

With a grin at his little daughter, he snuck up behind Sirius to where he was standing at the island in the center of the kitchen. Sirius didn't seem to notice either of them enter as he turned from the island to the stove where Remus could hear the bacon crackling and smell the French toast cooking. Sirius dropped a dripping piece of French toast into the pan, and Remus heard it sizzle as he approached Sirius. Remus reached out his hands as he got closer, ready to scare his unsuspecting husband. He smirked as he got closer. Then—

"What are you doing!" Sirius said loudly as he turned to Remus quickly. Remus nearly jumped out of his skin right before Sirius pulled him into his arms and kissed him. "Thought you were going to scare me, did you?" He said when he pulled back. "You know I'm un-scare-able, you goon," Sirius said before he hit the tip of Remus's nose lightly before turning and scooping Teddy in his arms, who was laughing.

Remus pouted as he moved to sit at the island. "I thought I was going to get you for once." Sirius gave him a look as if to say "as if," and Remus just gave him a falsely petulant look. "You deserved it. Telling our daughter to tell me to get my lazy butt out of bed."

Sirius chuckled. "It was her idea."

Remus gave him a look. "I'm certain that it wasn't our three-year-old's idea to say that to her father."

"Teddy?" Sirius said, looking at her with a grin. She'd been playing with a string on her father's shirt and not paying attention to either of them when Sirius said her name.

"What?" she said innocently. Sirius just laughed and put the girl in Remus's lap so he could continue cooking.

"Are you excited to start back at LLC tomorrow?" Sirius asked.

"Not sure," Remus said, playing with Teddy's hair.

Sirius looked at him over his shoulder, and when he saw his husband looking at their daughter, he understood. "She'll be fine, Remus."

"No, I know," Remus said quickly. "It's just going to be weird. Going back to work on a regular basis, getting trained to be in charge… and not seeing my girl." Remus shrugged. "It'll just be weird."

"I know," Sirius said. Then he turned to Remus. "Well, there will be no calling Dora all day. And no extended lunch break. And no coming home early. You have to get used to it. Both of you do."

Remus looked up at Sirius and tried to withhold a smile as he said, "I hate when you boss me around."

Sirius smiled and walked over to him so he could kiss him. The kiss was innocent—as their daughter was still on Remus's lap—but it had all the passion that Sirius's most intense kisses had, always leaving Remus feeling a little weak. "You don't," Sirius said when he pulled away, his mouth just a breath away from Remus's. "You loved it last night," he said, his lips brushing against Remus's. "And this morning, as a matter of fact." Remus grinned and pecked him before putting a hand on his chest and pushing him away gently.

"You better get back to that stuff before it burns," Remus said.

"Can't take the heat?" Sirius said, smiling as he turned back to their breakfast.

"I think I can," Remus responded.

"We'll see about that later."

"Later!" Remus said incredulously. "Last night and this morning weren't enough?"

"Oh, baby, you know it's never enough," Sirius said as he scooped two pieces of French toast out of the pan and put them on the plate next to the pan. "Plus, we have to get as much in as we can before both of us start working a lot."

Remus raised his eyebrows and watched Sirius as he walked across the kitchen and into the dining room with two plates in his hands. "If going back to work means no you-know-what, I think I should reconsider," Remus called after him.

Sirius was smiling as he walked back into the kitchen. "Well, it doesn't mean _no_ you-know-what, but we'll both be busy, so I don't know." He had the third plate in his hand—which was clearly Teddy's, evidenced by the already cut up French toast and broken up pieces of burnt bacon, the way their girl liked it—and he walked up so he was standing in front of Remus.

"Well, we should make some kind of pact."

Sirius arched an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, we'll try to have you-know-what as much as we can—"

"I like the sound of this pact already."

Remus punched him lightly on the shoulder. "But if things get busy, we should make a pact to have at least one romantic night a week, no matter what."

Sirius leaned in and kissed him lightly. "That sounds like a great plan."

"Shake on it," Remus said, holding out a hand. Sirius shook his head and laughed as he took Remus's hand. "No matter how hectic things get, we can't forget that we're married and madly in love." Sirius nodded. "And no matter how busy we are, we'll set aside at least one night a week just for each other."

"Deal," Sirius said. And as he walked to the dining room, over his shoulder he said, "Oprah would be so proud."

Several minutes later, the three of them were sitting down to the breakfast that Sirius had prepared, and Remus was giving Teddy instructions on how to behave for Tonks.

"All the same rules apply, Edwynne," Remus said with a bit of a serious tone. "Don't try to do anything you wouldn't do if Daddy and I weren't here."

"Like what?" Teddy said. Remus wasn't fooled by her false naivety.

"Edwynne," Sirius said in a warning tone before Remus went on.

"No going in Daddy's office. No going outside without Tonks. You have to eat all your vegetables—"

"But, Dad, I hate broccoli."

"Edwynne, listen to your dad."

Teddy pouted at Sirius's mild reprimand.

"And you have to listen to everything Tonks says," Remus continued.

"Will you be gone all day?" Teddy asked. Sirius noticed Remus's change in demeanor. He immediately tensed up and looked sad.

"I'll be home for dinner, and Daddy will be home—"

"For dinner, too," Sirius said, looking at Remus.

"You will?" Remus said, his expression softening greatly.

Sirius nodded. "Definitely. I already told James that I would be leaving by dinner time every night for a while." Remus practically felt his heart grow five sizes. It was amazing how much he loved his sexy, smart, and amazingly supportive husband. "I just want to make sure everything's okay for a while before I go back to my regular hours. I hope that's okay," Sirius added, looking a bit uncertain.

"Of course it is, baby," Remus said. "I just wasn't expecting it."

Sirius shrugged and smiled lightly. "I'm full of surprises," he said.

A bit later, Teddy asked to be excused so she could go play with her dolls in her room, and Remus and Sirius were sitting at the dining room table before they had to start cleaning up. Remus sat with one hand under his chin, propping his head up, and the other hand holding Sirius's on the table. Sirius was leaning forward a bit on his other elbow on the table, talking quietly to Remus.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" Remus closed his eyes briefly and hummed in response, loving everything Sirius was saying. Ever since Teddy had gone to her room, Sirius had been doing nothing but practically whispering sweet nothings across the table. "I'm just so amazed," Sirius was saying. "I'm amazed because when I first fell in love with you, I didn't think it was possible to love you more. You had all my love. But somehow, I just love you more and more every day." Remus looked into Sirius's deep gray eyes, and simply couldn't put into words how much he couldn't agree more with what Sirius was saying. "I have a feeling I'm just going to keep loving you more and more and more and more as the years go on. I can't wait to grow old with you, baby." Remus smiled and lifted Sirius's hand up so he could kiss his knuckles. "And everything's going to be okay, you know that, right?" Sirius said. "Me, you, Teddy, our new jobs, this new house, everything is going to be okay. You and I… Man, baby, we can get through anything. You know that." Remus nodded. "I'd do anything for you."

Remus was so wrapped up in all of Sirius's sweet talk, but suddenly, he felt a twist in his gut. He looked at Sirius, who had all the love and sincerity in his eyes that he could muster. Remus knew that Sirius was telling the absolute truth—that they could get through anything and that he truly would do anything for him—and that caused a wave of guilt to crash over him as he thought of a tall, sandy blonde-haired man with olive skin. How could he go on keeping this secret about Andrew from a man he loved and who loved him so much? Remus sighed and tried to smile at Sirius. He opened his mouth, prepared to let it all come tumbling out.

Instead, Remus only heard himself saying, "I love you, too, Sirius. More than you'll ever know."

* * *

"I'm fat."

"Lily you're hardly even showing."

"Well, I can't get into these fucking jeans," Lily said as she stood in front of the full length mirror on the back of their bathroom door with the zipper and button of her jeans hanging open. On top, she only wore a black lace bra and her red hair was tumbling around her shoulders. She ran a hand through her long hair before putting her hands on her hips and staring at her reflection.

"Lil, you're nearly five months pregnant. You won't be able to fit into your jeans forever," James said. He was lounging on their bed in only his boxers, reading the sports section of the Sunday paper.

Lily turned to the side and put a hand on her stomach, tilting her head slightly to the side as she did so. "How can you say I'm hardly showing?" she said with an annoyed tone. "Look at me!" She threw her hands up in the air and looked at James, her green eyes flashing.

James glanced up at her and shrugged before looking back down at his paper. "I think you look stunning and beautiful. You take my breath away every time I look at you."

"James," Lily said, her attitude immediately changing. "Don't say that. You'll make me cry."

James chuckled. "That'll be the hormones."

Lily humphed and stomped her foot, going back to pouting again as she turned back to the mirror to look at her reflection. She moved her hair so it was draping across one shoulder. "I wasn't this big already when I was carrying Harry."

James had to bite his lip to withhold a scoff. Clearly Lily had forgotten that she had been fit to burst already when she was only seven months along with Harry. He put his paper down on the bed and got up so he could go over to her. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her so that they were resting on her stomach. He looked in the mirror so he could meet her eyes.

"You're the most beautiful woman on earth. You're blind if you think otherwise."

Lily smiled at him in the mirror's reflection and put her hands on top of his. James buried his face in her hair, breathing in her familiar scent. Then he turned her around so she was facing him. He put both his hand on her stomach.

"You've got my baby in there," James said, smiling. "Little John or Little Rose. And I know he or she is going to be beautiful and smart and funny and crazy and amazing just like his or her mom."

"James…"

James put a finger to her lips and pulled her over to the bed. He swept her up in his arms once they got closer, causing her to yelp and then giggle right before he put her on the bed and climbed on after her. He kissed her long and deeply before moving his mouth to her neck, chest, breasts, and down to her stomach. He kissed up her legs after removing her worrisome jeans, placing light kisses on her toes when he got there, making her giggle and squirm. Soon, he was pushing inside her, telling her beautiful and sexy she was and how much he wanted her. For those moments, Lily forgot all about her insecurities about not being able to fit into her jeans, and the only thing she could focus on was calling out James's name as he brought her over the edge.

When they were finished, James rolled over and pulled Lily into is arms so that she was draped over him—one leg hooked around his and most of her upper body resting on James's.

"Are you convinced of how beautiful I think you are now?"

Lily laughed. "Was that all that was? You just trying to prove some point."

James flicked her lightly on the forehead. "Yeah, that's exactly what that was," James said sarcastically. "I had sex with my incredibly sexy wife just so she would shut up about her jeans."

Lily looked up at him. "I feel like this is one of those things where you act like you're being sarcastic, but you're really being serious."

James rolled his eyes. "Goober," he said to her.

Lily smiled and wrapped herself around him even more tightly. "You're perfect," she said.

"No need to stroke my ego, Lils. You calling out my name like that was enough ego stroking for one day."

She punched him in the stomach, making him jerk up with an "oof!" before laughing at his wife. "Try not to be so violent in front of my baby," he said, laughing.

"Oh, get over it."

They stayed like that in silence for several minutes before Lily sighed.

"I have to go pick up Harry. That was the whole point of putting on those godforsaken things," she said, gesturing to the jeans that laid forgotten on the floor.

"I'll pick him up."

Lily looked up at him before kissing him on his shoulder and burying her face into his chest again. "It's okay. Petunia's been harping on me about seeing her new plants anyway." She rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'll make excuses for you," James said. "You're pregnant. You're fatigued and hormonal. I'll tell her."

"James…"

"How about I run you a hot bath? And you can relax until Harry and I come back, and then I'm sure that little rascal will drive you mad within an hour of him coming home." He looked down at her. "Babe, you need rest. And you deserve relaxation. So take a bath, and I'll bring you home a big pint of that birthday cake ice cream that you love."

Lily looked up at him. "Are you the perfect husband?"

James nodded with mock seriousness. "I am indeed."

* * *

About two hours later—James had gotten stuck looking at Petunia's new plants in Lily's place—James was walking into the front door of his brownstone with Harry in one arm and Harry's bag draped over his other arm, holding a pint of ice cream when he was practically bowled over by a little figure with black hair just like Harry's, only longer.

"Teddy? What're you—"

"Hi, babe," James heard Lily yell from another room. "Remus, Sirius, and Teddy are over!"

James looked down at the little girl who was looking up at him expectantly. "Oh, come on," he said with a laugh as he bent down to put Teddy in his other arm, handing her the ice cream to hold. He kissed her forehead as he carried her and Harry into the family room that Sirius, Remus, and Lily were sitting in, the former two having a glass of red wine, and Lily drinking what James hoped was some kind of juice.

"It's cran-grape," Lily said when James came into the room, as if she could read his mind.

"Look at you with those two big babies in your arms," Remus said, chuckling.

"Show off," Sirius said with an eye roll.

James laughed and set both of the kids down, who then immediately ran to Harry's room, yelling at each other about which games they were going to play the whole way.

"How was Petunia's?" Lily asked as James leaned down to kiss her cheek before handing her the ice cream and the plastic spoon he'd picked up and plopping down on the sofa next to Sirius, with Remus on Sirius's other side. Sirius and Remus sat close to each other holding hands, leaving James plenty of room, and Lily sat cross-legged in an armchair that was caddy-corner to the couch.

"Fine. I had to look at her stupid begonias for an hour, and I had to listen to Vernon complain about the weirdos who apparently live down the street, but other than that it was grand."

"How's Dudley?" Lily asked before digging into her ice cream.

"Fat," James said simply. Lily laughed mid swallow, causing her to choke on her ice cream a bit. Sirius and Remus both burst into laughter as well. James just shrugged. "I'm serious. The kid is like six months old and he's already practically the size of Harry."

"James, he's a baby, leave him alone," Sirius said.

"Well, if he takes after his father, he's going to be more than just a fat baby."

"James—" Lily said, laughing.

"Look, I've got nothing against fat people," James said, holding up his hands as if in surrender. "I love fat people! I have fat friends, fat relatives, fat coworkers," he said, looking at Sirius.

Sirius gaped. "Hey! I am not fat!"

"And if you were, I would love you just the same. The same way I loved you just the same even though you like to get it up the ass from his dude," he said, nodding toward Remus.

"Wow," Remus said.

"Who needs more wine?" Lily asked. Both Remus and Sirius held up their glasses.

"So, anyway," James said after he'd gone to the kitchen to get a beer and sat back on the couch next to Sirius. "My working boys," he said, patting Sirius on the knee. "Remus is taking over the family business and Sirius is going to be a professor at NYU. You know, I really don't know how I'm going to manage the firm without you."

Sirius shook his head. "I'm cutting down on my hours, not quitting."

"You're a workaholic," James said. "Going from working with you twelve hours a day to eight every other day is going to be hard! Who's going to keep the interns in line?"

"You are, idiot," Sirius said. "Anyway, I was tired of being bad cop around there. Maybe now you'll have to learn some stern leadership instead of being everyone's bro."

"You cut me to quick, Sirius Black. I resent the implication that I'm a bro," James said with mock seriousness. Lily gave him a look. "My own dear wife! My wife thinks I'm a bro. Perfect." She shrugged and continued eating her ice cream, clearly very content with it. "Well," he said, turning back to Sirius. "Make sure you tell your students that you don't do it alone. Make sure you tell them that if it weren't for your best friend, you'd be lost and confused."

"I probably won't say _that_," Sirius said with an eye roll. "But of course I'll tell them it takes a village."

"How are you going to pull them in?" James asked. "You know, you need a good way to grab their attention on the first day. Remember the first day of constitutional law back in 1L? Man, Professor Slughorn scared the hell out of us. You should have seen him," he said looking at Lily and Remus. "He was like a machine. He knew all of our names and was bouncing around the room calling on everyone. He'd managed to pit half the class against each other in the first half hour." James shook his head with a fond smile before looking back at Sirius. "You need something like that. You need to do or say something that's going to make them remember you in twenty years."

"It's just a small seminar," Sirius said.

"Have you checked your class list yet?" James asked. "You're famous in the legal world, especially in New York."

"No, I'm not," Sirius said, looking at James like he was a complete fool.

James rolled his eyes. "He is," he said to Lily and Remus. Lily nodded with a smile, and Remus looked like he was hanging onto every word James was saying. Unconsciously, he held Sirius's hand tighter, feeling himself swell with pride. "I'm sure you're going to have a full class, not to mention people begging you to get extra spots."

Sirius looked skeptical.

"Babe, is that true?" Remus said to Sirius. "I had no idea you were that renowned."

"He's overly modest," Lily said through a mouth full of ice cream.

"No, shut up, all of you," Sirius said, holding up his free hand. "I'm not _famous_, and no law student cares that much about my course."

"He's just so wrong about that," James said, addressing Lily and Remus and ignoring Sirius. "There were law review articles written about his work in the Riddle case. Law professors and scholars write op-ed pieces about the work he did at Black and Associates and the fact that Black & Potter is so successful and he's only in his early thirties. They talk about me, too," James said, with a joking look. "But they all seem to be in awe over Sirius."

"Wow, Sirius, that's wonderful!" Lily said. "I had no idea."

"Me neither, baby," Remus said, smiling at Sirius, who was just looking straight ahead. "I'm so proud of you."

"You should be," James said over Remus and Lily's gushings. "According to the _Times_, he's the hottest up and coming young attorney. They all say—"

"Seriously, shut up, James," Sirius snapped. All three of them fell silent and looked at Sirius. "The only reason they even know who I am is because of my father. It has nothing to do with my abilities as an attorney."

"You're an idiot," James said, getting just as annoyed as Sirius seemed to be. "You're a great lawyer. And I'm lucky to be your friend and your partner."

"James…" Lily said, looking at her husband lovingly.

Sirius gave her a dirty look, rolling his eyes at her hormones before looking back at James. "I just don't understand why you're saying that. It's not true. No one at the law school is going to be expecting that kind of greatness from me."

"Babe," Remus said, suddenly understanding. "It's okay to be nervous, but that doesn't change the fact that you are amazing." Sirius looked at Remus, and Remus watched as his expression softened. "You could scare all of them, you could be boring, or you could show up to the first class naked. No matter what you do, you're still an incredible attorney who should be proud of the work he's done."

James nodded. "I'm actually thinking that the naked thing just might keep them talking for twenty years. Good idea, Remus."

Remus, Sirius, and Lily laughed.

"I think you're right, Rem," Sirius said, leaning in to peck his husband on his lips. "I think you all over estimate me, but I just gotta go in there and be myself. Just be a lawyer." He turned to James. "And hey, I'm sorry for snapping at you," he said. "That was… All of the things you said were really nice, man. Thanks."

James just shrugged. "I mean, your work speaks for itself."

"Yeah, well I couldn't do it without you."

James smiled at Sirius, who smiled back before reaching out his hand. James grasped it before pulling Sirius into an embrace.

"You're going to be great, bro," James said when the embrace was over. "And don't forget that your partner is handsome, and he wouldn't mind coming in to talk to your class." Sirius rolled his eyes and was about to open his mouth with some kind of snarky retort when he heard sniffling. He looked up at Lily, who was wiping tears from her eyes.

"My hormones can't handle all this brotherly love!" she snapped at them with a full mouth before slamming her pint of ice cream on the side table and rushing into the other room to hide her face.

James shook his head as Remus laughed and Sirius looked a little dumbfounded. "Feel lucky that neither of you can get pregnant."

* * *

_Next chapter:_

_Sirius starts his first day at NYU Law._


	8. Professor Black

**Chapter 7: Professor Black**

_Two weeks later_

"Fuck—" Remus bit out. "Fuck, Sirius, harder—"

His head dropped but was quickly yanked back as Sirius grabbed a fistful of his hair. Remus was on his knees on their bed, with his boxers pushed down to his knees. Sirius was behind him, nearly fully clothed, his slacks pulled down enough to free his cock to push into Remus, and his nice button down hanging open, leaving his toned chest and stomach exposed.

One particularly rough thrust caused Remus to cry out. "Fuck, Sirius, right there, baby, right there. Harder."

Sirius was grunting quietly with each thrust, complying with all of Remus's pleas. "Don't stop. Don't…" Remus had been on his way to the shower and Sirius on his way down to their kitchen when they had bumped into each other. And an innocent clumsy run-in in front of the bathroom had gone from that to teasing kisses to hands roaming to each of them on their bed in just a matter of a seconds.

Sirius released Remus's hair so he could grip Remus's hips. With each thrust, he pulled Remus's hips up and against him. Remus was no longer able to form words as they caught in his throat along with his breath. They were both panting heavily in between groans and grunts and moans. Remus reached forward to grab the headboard and his knuckles began to go white from the force of his grip. Remus wanted to tell Sirius to go even harder, but the words wouldn't come.

Then, one of Sirius's hands was around his cock, and Remus knew he couldn't hold it in much longer. _Sirius,_ he tried to say. _Don't do that if you want this to last,_ but again, no words came.

Sirius was panting and grunting with each hard thrust into Remus's tight hole, and then Remus moved his hips a certain way and Sirius knew he wouldn't last. He gripped Remus's cock harder and pulled a few more times, and then with a few more rough thrusts, Remus was coming on Sirius's hand, and Sirius thrust a few more times before he groaned deep in his throat and released himself inside Remus as Remus's legs and arms shook with the force of his orgasm.

Sirius stayed inside Remus for a moment, loving the pulsating feeling around his cock, before he pulled out slowly and collapsed on his back on the bed. The room was filled with the sounds of them catching their breath before Sirius looked over at Remus, who was on his stomach, smiling at Sirius.

"Now how am I supposed to concentrate on my first day?" Sirius said. "I'm just going to be thinking about you all day."

Remus leaned over and kissed Sirius's arm. "That was the plan," Remus said.

Sirius laughed and turned on his side so he could run a hand down Remus's spine. Sirius was pleased to see goosebumps erupt on Remus's body as Remus's eyes drifted closed.

"No going back to sleep," Sirius said, continuing his motions with his hand. "We both have to get to work. And Dora's going to be here soon."

"Can't we just stay in bed and fuck all day?"

Sirius's eyes widened slightly. Remus knew how much Sirius loved it when Remus said "fuck" instead of "have sex" or "make love." It turned him on so much.

"Don't do that, Rem," he said with a small groan. "You know what that does to me."

Remus smiled. "I know." Then Sirius's mouth was on his, and their tongues met quickly, both of them getting lost in the kiss. And suddenly Remus was on his back, and Sirius's hand was drifting down to his cock, which was steadily getting hard again. Remus smiled against Sirius's mouth, loving when he got his way.

Ten minutes later, Remus was in the shower, washing off the evidence of the mornings escapades, remembering how the second time Sirius's cock had found its way inside Remus this morning, both of them had been so sensitive that their orgasms had come quickly and left them both shaky for several minutes after. Not since their first few months as a married couple had Remus and Sirius had multiple morning sex sessions. When they had first gotten married, they basically spent a month in bed, having sex more than eating or sleeping. And when Sirius had gone back to working full time after their extended honeymoon, they'd had sex in the morning before Sirius went to work, in the evening when he came home, at night before bed, and often times during the day when Sirius was at work and Remus decided to pay him a visit. They simply hadn't been able to keep their hands off of each other, just loving that they would be spending the rest of their lives together and not being able to get over how happy they both were.

Things had cooled down after Teddy came into their lives, but it seemed that things were starting to get back on track again, and Remus couldn't be more happy. God, he loved that man, and even twice in one morning just wasn't enough to show him how much.

When he finished his shower, he got dressed quickly and went downstairs to find Tonks and Teddy playing in the family room, and Sirius drinking coffee and eating a bagel as he read the paper in the dining room.

He smiled at Remus as he entered the room. "There's more coffee in the kitchen and a bagel in the toaster for you," he said with a half full mouth as Remus leaned down to kiss him lightly.

"I definitely need the nourishment after this morning," Remus said quietly in Sirius's ear before going into the kitchen and helping himself. When he got back into the dining room, he just watched Sirius as he read and finished his coffee. Sometimes he just couldn't believe how lucky and happy he was.

"When are you going to stop staring at me?" Sirius finally asked with a small smirk, not looking up from the article he was reading.

"Whenever you stop being so sexy," Remus said simply. Sirius looked up at him with a seductive half smile. Every time Sirius smiled at him like this, Remus felt naked as he wondered what Sirius was thinking. It was a look he'd given Sirius when they'd hardly known each other, and Remus was nothing more than Sirius's yard worker. It was the look that made Remus come undone. "Yeah, looking at me like that isn't going to make me stop staring," Remus said. Sirius laughed. "Are you excited for your first day?" Remus asked a moment later.

"I am," Sirius said. "Excited and nervous."

Remus stood up and walked around the table so he could sit in Sirius's lap. He wrapped his arms around his husband's neck. "You're going to be perfect," he said before leaning in to kiss him. Sirius snaked his arms around Remus's waist and kissed him back.

A moment later they were interrupted.

"Oh… Um… Sorry."

Remus and Sirius looked up at Tonks who was standing in the doorway holding Teddy's hand. Tonks's face was beet red.

"Teddy just wanted to…"

"It's okay, Tonks," Teddy said cheerfully. "My daddies always kiss. They love each other."

Remus and Sirius smiled at their little girl as she came waddling over to them. Remus pulled her up into his lap.

"I'm in Daddy's lap, and _he's_ in _Daddy's_ lap," Teddy said, giggling. Remus and Sirius smiled even bigger.

"We sure are going to miss you today, little girl," Sirius said.

Teddy looked a little sad. "I'm going to miss you, too. But me and Tonks will have fun, right?" she said, turning to her cousin who was still standing in the doorway with a light pink color to her face.

"Right," she squeaked.

"Then we can all have fun when you come home," Teddy said.

Remus nodded. "Of course we can," he said. Then, "I love you, Teddy," he said before leaning in and kissing her forehead.

"I love you, too, Daddy."

"Wish Daddy luck on his first day at his new job," Remus said as he stood up and put Teddy in Sirius's lap instead.

"Good luck, Daddy," Teddy said, wrapping her little arms around Sirius's neck, making her father swell with emotion. Remus noticed the tears in his eyes as he bit his lip. "But you don't need luck because you're the best at everything."

"That right?" Sirius said, his voice shaky as he smiled at his daughter.

"Yes," she said matter-of-factly.

"Give your daddy a kiss," Sirius said. And when he had kissed his daughter and handed her to Tonks who took her into the other room, he turned to Remus.

"I'm nervous, babe," he said.

"Don't be," Remus said, taking Sirius's hands. "Teddy is right. You're perfect at everything you do. Those students are going to adore you."

"How do I make them remember me?"

Remus thought for a moment. "Well, other than your scary constitutional law professor, what is it about the other professors that you remember from law school? What makes you remember your favorites?"

Sirius frowned, thinking. "I remember the ones who were honest," Sirius finally said. "I remember the ones who told the truth. And I remember the one's who seemed to really care about us—the ones who held four hour long office hours to help us understand the material and the ones who made it seem like there was no place they'd rather be than with us."

Remus smiled. "Do you think you can do that?"

Sirius sighed. "Yeah," he said, smiling. "I think so."

"Then you'll be great." Remus leaned in to kiss Sirius. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Sirius said. "And this morning…" he said with a smile that was full of hidden intentions. "If my first day goes well, there will be so much more where that came from."

"Well, then those kids better hope they're good to you, or NYU might lose a few students."

* * *

Sirius took a deep breath and then exhaled as he sat in his new office at the NYU School of Law. He tried to calm his nerves by thinking about Remus and how happy and content they had both been in bed this morning. He remembered Remus telling him he loved him and that he was going to do great. Remus's faith in him always meant the world, and he needed to channel it and remember it now.

It had been exciting when he'd gotten to the building this morning and the secretary he shared with several other professors had greeted him with "Good morning, Professor Black." He had wished her a good morning before he'd rushed into his office to text Remus and tell him about what had happened. Remus had responded (_"I'm so excited for you baby! Have fun and good luck!")_, and in that moment, Sirius had felt relief, but now he was just feeling nervous again.

While he waited for his class to begin, he thought about his constitutional law professor, Professor Slughorn. He found himself wondering if Slughorn had gotten nervous before his first class.

_Yeah, right,_ Sirius thought. _The man was a machine. Just like James said._

Sirius sighed. It would be fine. Despite all the grandiose things that James, Lily, and Remus had said, Sirius knew he was a decent lawyer. This seminar was specifically about white-collar crime and ethics, which was most of the work that he and James did at their firm. They defended other kinds of crimes as well, and they often represented those opposing white-collar criminals in civil suits, and the dean said they had wanted him in particular because of the vast scope of what they did at Black & Potter. Criminal work wasn't all they did, either, but that's what this class would mainly be about, and Sirius knew that his background was solid.

But that didn't mean he would be a good professor. Sometimes the worst professors were some of the best lawyers, and vice versa.

He just needed to relax. If he could just relax and focus, everything would be okay.

James had certainly been right about one thing, though. This class was going to be huge. When the registrar had asked how many spots he wanted to allow, he'd said the maximum, thinking that only about 20-30 people would sign up for the class anyway so it wouldn't matter. Well, the maximum was 100, and currently there were 104 students in his class. He had printed out the class list with each students face next to his or her name, and he had been working for a few weeks on memorizing them the way Slughorn had memorized their names years ago. So far he had only memorized the A-G names, so for this day, he had another plan for whom he would be calling on throughout the class.

Despite all his nervousness and anxiety, however, Sirius was excited. This was a rare opportunity to express his craft to people who would truly care about it. The excitement and the nervousness were playing hell on his body, making him tense and his stomach twist in knots, but he did his best to relax himself. _Just think of Remus_, he would tell himself. _Think of Teddy, and everything will be okay._ He tried to think that no matter what happened in there, he would be going home to those two, and really that was all that mattered.

Sirius sighed as he stood up and got ready to leave his office. For a moment, his stomach was roiling so hard that he thought he might throw up. He stopped next to his trashcan and waited for a moment before the wave of nausea passed. He then picked up the stack of papers and his coffee thermos and headed out of his office. He thought he should probably just embrace his fear now, because it didn't look like it would be going anywhere, anytime soon.

"Good luck, Professor Black," the secretary said as he passed her at her desk. Sirius smiled at her.

"Thanks, Gretchen," he said.

"I don't think you need it though," she added as he was in the doorway. "You'll be great."

Sirius thanked her as he left and headed toward the elevators that he could take to the classroom. It was a larger lecture room to hold all the people who had signed up. He was so lost in thought about his first lesson that suddenly he just looked up and there he was, standing outside the door. It was the same room in which he'd had his first ever law school course. Civil Procedure. And he remembered feeling just as terrified in that moment as he felt in this one. And as he reached his hand out to open the door, he tried to ignore his shaking hand as a thought came upon him. He'd been terrified that day, and everything had turned out okay. He'd done well in the class and in all his other classes throughout law school. He'd graduated law school with honors, managed to do good work at his father's firm, and he had his own successful firm by the age of thirty. And now here he was, about to teach a class at one of the most prestigious law schools in the country. He'd done all right then, and maybe that meant he would do all right now. He must have done something right.

Wanting to get in the door while this fresh wave of confidence was upon him, he opened it quickly and stepped in. Every head turned in his direction (it was the first day, so all the students had gotten there early), and a hush fell over the room. Sirius smiled at them as he walked down the aisle and toward the professor's podium at the front of the room.

"I'm Professor Black," he said as he walked by the rows of students. "And this is my White Collar Crime seminar. I hope you're in the right place, but if not, you should probably just wait it out anyway," he said as he got to the front and put his stack of papers in front of him. "No one wants to be the guy who gets up and leaves because he was in the wrong class." When the class laughed collectively, Sirius suddenly felt enormously at ease. He could do this, and it would be fun. "Do they, Mr. Fairchild?"

The class immediately fell silent and a few heads turned in the direction of the person he had called on. The student in question was sitting on the left side of the room in one of the rows near the middle but closer to the back. He looked nervous, but he held his composure.

"I think I'm in the right place, sir," Fairchild said. Several people chuckled, and Sirius smiled.

"I wasn't implying that you weren't," Sirius said. "I was just asking a question."

"Oh, well then the answer is yes, sir. No one wants to be that guy."

"And you're not?"

Fairchild laughed along with several others. "No, sir."

"Hmm," Sirius said. "That's good to hear. Tell me, Mr. Fairchild, what's the difference between what we would call the 'normal' criminal law and white-collar criminal law?"

Fairchild paused a few moments before answering. "I suppose there are several differences," he said. "The types of clients, the sentences that the criminals receive, the nature of the crime… I mean, violence versus non-violence…" Fairchild trailed off.

"Okay. Interesting. Anything else?" A few hands went up, but Sirius held his hand up to show that he wasn't taking volunteers right now. "Mr. Fairchild?"

"Well… there are different cultural implications…" Fairchild said slowly, and then a look of dawning came over his face as if he knew the answer Sirius wanted. "And certainly the impact is different."

Sirius smiled, happy that Fairchild had caught on. "Tell me more about the impact."

"Well, crimes like robbery and rape and homicide tend to only directly affect one person or a small group of people," Fairchild said. "They affect the victims of the crimes, and sometimes their families and close friends. The net that's cast out is much smaller in regards to direct effects. But in white collar crime, the direct effects can be broad in scope, affecting hundreds, maybe even thousands of people who were connected with a particular company."

"Go on."

"Well, you see, when you murder someone, criminal law in general would regard that as a crime that affects the state—the community at large—and perhaps in terms of the social contract or a well guarded citizenry, it does, but practically, it only affects the person you murdered and perhaps their family. When a C.E.O. of a major corporation launders money or does insider trading or something, people lose faith in the company. Their profits fall, and there's a domino affect where all these pieces fall until people don't trust the company any more. They lose investors, stocks fall, and eventually this company is filing for bankruptcy. The C.E.O. and all the big boys might be okay, but all the little employees at much lower levels are going to suffer. It could mean thousands of people out of jobs without 401Ks or retirement plans or health insurance or whatever. It could mean another thousand or more losing all of the money they invested in the company."

"Very good, Mr. Fairchild. Now, perhaps you can predict my next question. If white-collar crimes have such a larger impact most times, why do you suppose they're generally charged much less harshly than other crimes like robbery or homicide? Of course, we've seen a trend of higher sentences for white-collar crimes over the last few years, but as a general matter, when out of the public eye, the sentences are lower. Why?"

Fairchild thought for a few seconds. "Well, the nature of the crimes are much different. It seems like the criminal law would and should charge more harshly for loss of life rather than mere loss of finance."

"What about in a robbery case where no people are injured? Suppose the robber steals from one rich man—she steals all his money and jewels and everything in his house of value. She only hurts one person. Financially. She's charged life, while an insider trader who injures hundreds gets, say, two years. This can and has happened. Explain that."

"I can't explain such a disparity. Perhaps there are cultural or societal reasons."

"Such as?"

"Race. Gender?"

"Now we're talking," Sirius smiled at Fairchild. "Very good, Mr. Fairchild."

After that, Sirius opened up the discussion to more volunteers, going back to Fairchild several more times to ask him questions about what people were saying in the class. Both Fairchild's and Sirius's confidence went up as the class went on. Sirius had introduced the course, handed out syllabi, made the class laugh several times, and continued with his introductory material as the class continued. Then suddenly he looked at the clock and there were only two minutes left to go in the class. The time had gone by so quickly, and Sirius suddenly realized that he was almost finished teaching his first law school class. He couldn't wait to get home and tell Remus everything.

"Okay, everyone," Sirius said. "That's enough for today. For next time, read pages 50 through 91 in the casebook. Thank you."

Sirius gathered up his papers and his now empty coffee thermos and headed back to his office, adrenaline rushing through him as he did so. The class had gone even better than he'd hoped, and it seemed like most of the students liked him. He hadn't stumbled or lost his way. He'd been cool and confident. Everything had been and would be okay. He'd made it, and he'd loved every second of it.

He was grinning like a fool when he got back to the cluster of offices where his own office was housed.

"It looks like your first class went well," Gretchen said with a smile.

"It did," he said. "Thanks." He went into his office to drop off his stuff before he went back out. "I'm going to go grab a little something to eat from downstairs. My office hours are from eleven to two today, but I doubt anyone will come by on the first day," he told Gretchen. "If any do, just tell them I'll be back shortly."

"Will do, professor," she said with a salute.

"Do you want anything from downstairs?"

"Oh, would you mind getting me a banana nut muffin. They have the best," she said gratefully as she leaned over and grabbed her wallet out of her purse. When she started digging around in it, Sirius spoke.

"Hey, don't worry about it," he said. "It's on me." He winked at her before leaving. She smiled.

As soon as Sirius got to the lower level where the little cafeteria was, he pulled out his phone to make a call.

"_Lupin Lawn Care, this is Remus."_

"Babe, it's me."

"_Oh, hi, baby, how did the first class go?"_

Sirius sighed. "It was perfect."

"_Oh!" Remus said excitedly. "I'm so happy for you! That's really great. I knew it would be wonderful. You didn't scare them too much, did you?" _

Sirius chuckled. "I don't think so."

"_How did the student you called on take it?"_

"He did really well. I was pretty impressed."

"_That's great. Man, I'm so happy for you." _

"Thanks, babe," Sirius said, smiling. "I couldn't have done it without you."

"_Me?" Remus said, chuckling. "What did I do?"_

"I don't know. You're just so amazing and supportive, and when I was nervous this morning, I just thought of you and I felt better."

"_That's so sweet, babe. I love you. Hey, how about a celebratory dinner tonight? I'll pick something up so we don't have to cook, and me, you, and Teddy will have a nice family dinner." _

"I can't wait," Sirius said. "We should invite Dora, too. She's been such a help."

"_Okay. That sounds great. I can't wait to see you. I love you." _

"Love you, too. Bye."

"_Bye, baby."_

Several minutes later, Sirius was carrying a sandwich, a cup of tea, and a muffin back up to his office, smiling to himself thinking about the day he was having. When he got into the little waiting area around his office, he saw a crowd of students sitting on and standing around the couches.

"Someone's popular," Sirius said as he put the muffin on Gretchen's desk.

Gretchen smiled. "That would be you."

"What?" Sirius looked over, shocked. Then he realized it was true. He recognized a few of the faces from his class, including Fairchild.

"Individually or together?" Gretchen asked.

"Um…" Sirius said, still confused about the number of students who wanted to see him. There were at least twenty people crowded into the little space. "I don't know. Let's try individually and see how it goes," he said, turning to the group. "Fairchild, you first," he said, nodding toward the door to his office.

Once inside, he closed the door behind them and gestured for Fairchild to take the seat in front of his desk as he moved to sit behind it.

"Great job today," Sirius began.

"Oh, thanks," Fairchild said with a shrug. He was modest. Sirius appreciated that. Up close, Sirius noticed that Fairchild looked eerily like someone he'd known a long time ago. He had short blonde hair and tanned skin as if he spent a lot of time outside. He had an athletic build, and Sirius couldn't help but notice that he was handsome. He certainly had a winning smile. "The class was great," Fairchild said, smiling.

"Thank you, I appreciate it. What did you want to see me about, Mr. Fairchild?"

"I just wanted to introduce myself to you," he said. Sirius nodded. "I'm Sterling Fairchild, as you know," he said with a nervous chuckle.

"Where did you go to college, Mr. Fairchild?" Sirius asked him, opting to stick with the last name as his professors had all done when he was in law school.

"I did my undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois. I had a basketball scholarship."

He played basketball, too. If Sirius didn't know any better, he would think that this Fairchild was a reincarnation of his old flame Andrew from over ten years ago. They looked similar, both played basketball. Though Fairchild's eyes were blue, and Andrew's had been a pale green.

_Stop looking at the kid's eyes, Sirius,_ he told himself.

"Illini?" Sirius asked. "That's impressive."

"Thanks," Fairchild said. Sirius noticed that the tips of his ears went slightly pink. "You're still going to work at Black & Potter aren't you?"

Sirius nodded. "I love it. I wouldn't stop working there for anything."

"Is it long hours? That must be hard on your family."

Sirius shrugged. "I've cut back my hours at the firm. My partner has been really great about it all. My husband would have killed both Black and Potter if I'd continued my same hours and taught this class."

"You're gay," Fairchild blurted, then blushed. "Sorry, I—"

Sirius laughed. "It's okay. Yeah, I'm gay."

"Would you come speak at an OutLaw meeting some time? I'm sure they would all love to hear about someone so successful from our community."

_You're gay?_ Sirius wanted to blurt the same way Fairchild had. He was just as shocked as the man had been just moments earlier. _Did he mean New York as a community, or the gay community?_ Sirius didn't know, and he didn't really feel comfortable asking.

"That would be fine," Sirius said. "Just send me an email and we'll set something up."

"Thanks, professor," Fairchild said, then he stood up. "Well, I should go. You're very popular today, and I don't want to take up anyone's time."

Sirius chuckled and stood up as well. "Thanks for stopping by," he said. "And again, really great job today."

"Thanks," he said. Then he held out his hand. When Sirius took it, he was a bit startled when Fairchild took a step forward. "It was a really great class. I'm looking forward to learning more from you this semester."

_Is he flirting with me?_ Sirius thought. His voice had gone a bit deeper after he'd stepped forward, and the atmosphere had seemed to change. _What should I do?_ "Thank you, Mr. Fairchild," he just said quickly. He pulled his hand away from the man's after he noticed that he was about an inch taller than Sirius, and he stepped around him to open the door. "Have a great day."

Sirius was distracted during his meetings with the next couple students, thinking about his encounter with Fairchild. _It's going to be an interesting semester._

* * *

A few hours later, Sirius was wrapping up his office hours and preparing to leave when Gretchen came into his office with a bouquet of flowers.

"What's that?" Sirius asked, standing up and walking over to meet her.

She handed the vase to him and smiled. "A secret admirer?" she said. "There's a card."

"Oh." Sirius plucked the card from the bouquet and immediately grinned.

_Congratulations on your first day, Professor! We love you!_

_Remus, Teddy, James, Lily, Harry, and John/Rose_

"Who are they from?" Gretchen asked.

Sirius looked up at her and smiled before turning around and putting the flowers on his desk. "Some people who really love me."

* * *

_Next chapter:_

_Sirius gets some sage advice from a new colleague. Remus is adjusting to life as a man in charge._


	9. A Special Thank You

_A/N: I come to all of you sheepish and apologetic. I cannot believe I went this long without updating. This semester has been complete and utter chaos, and believe me, I've been missing the boys and their story just as much as you. If you've stuck around for this story and you've been waiting patiently, you have my eternal gratitude. _

_Recap: In chapter 7, Sirius started his new job as a professor at NYU Law where he had some interesting encounters with his new students (Fairchild in particular). He and Remus are doing great and they're happy as clams. In this chapter, we get a visit from a colleague of Sirius's at NYU, and Remus has his own interesting encounter._

_I've got several chapters in the works for this story, so the next update will not be far off, I promise! Please let me know that there are still people alive out there who are enjoying the story and there will be some wonderful rewards in it for all of you (in the form of some sexy scenes between Remus and Sirius...). _

_My apologies again, and thank you for not giving up on me! Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 8**: **A Special Thank You**

Remus sat hunched over the desk that used to be his father's in the office that use to be his father's inside the office building of the business that his father built. He was exhausted and probably the only person left in the building. It was well past business hours, but Remus still felt behind on all the work he had to do. The sky was almost completely dark, and his stomach was rumbling at him angrily, but he told himself it would just be a few more minutes and then he could wrap up and go home.

It had been several weeks since Remus had started back at LLC, and his father had figured that the best way for Remus to get used to running the business was just to jump right in. While he had been doing just normal lawn care duties over the years, Remus had also served as office manager. So, he was aware of most of the trappings of the business—at least, he'd thought he was until he sat down behind his father's old desk and immediately felt like the most inadequate man on Earth.

John Lupin was always available to help Remus—whether he was around the office or a phone call away—but Remus was determined to do things on his own unless he desperately needed his father's help. For the most part, John was beginning to settle into retirement while Remus spent long hours every day at LLC trying to do what his father had made seem so effortless.

Remus leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hands down his face before he reclined a bit further and put his arm over his eyes. He yawned widely and loudly as he stretched before a voice interrupted him mid-stretch.

"I think you're working too hard."

Remus jumped and let his chair fall forward with a small thud when he looked up and saw his new coworker—ahem, _employee_—standing in his doorway.

"Ephraim! What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here so late."

Ephraim let out a deep, rumbling chuckle. "I could say the same to you," he said as Remus gestured for him to take the seat across from his desk. "Mr. L never stayed here this late," Ephraim said as he sat.

Remus smiled. "Yeah, my mom was always really adamant that he be home in time for dinner. In the early years of the business my father always stayed until after I had gone to bed, but by the time the business became stable, mom put her foot down."

Ephraim laughed deeply again. Remus was mildly amazed by the sound.

"What are you doing here so late?" Remus asked again.

"Oh, the job I was on ran a bit late… needy housewife," Ephraim said.

"I know all about those," Remus said with a laugh.

"I'm sure," Ephraim said, grinning. "But Mr. L always liked us to come back to home base before we left for the day. But…" Ephraim looked directly at Remus. Remus was slightly taken aback by the brown color of his eyes. For a man so dark, his eyes were shockingly light—like the color of a caramel candy. "You're the new Mr. L now."

Remus shook his head. "No, I'm just Remus. Trust me. Just call me Remus."

Ephraim chuckled again. "Remus…" he said slowly, as if he was testing it out.

"How long have you been working here?" Remus asked him after a brief pause. He thought he should get to know the man that his father was so adamant on Remus taking under his wing. _"He's a hard worker, Remus. A good worker," _his father had said over and over. _"Guide him… The way I guided you." _

"About… eight months."

"You like it?"

"Oh it's wonderful. I love physical work, and I love being outside, and your father is—or was—a great boss."

"Yeah, well, he seems to think the world of you."

Ephraim shook his head and looked at his hands. "I think he overestimates me."

Remus scoffed good-naturedly. "Trust me, John Lupin is not a man to _over_estimate. Quite the opposite."

Ephraim looked up at Remus. "Well, then you must be a god in human form on Earth," he said. "If your father was underestimating you, I can't even imagine what you must really be like."

A confused smile graced Remus's face. "What do you mean? He talks well of me?"

Ephraim gaped. "Are you kidding? The man adores you. All he ever talks about his how great you are and how much he loves you and your husband and your daughter. He goes on and on about how proud he is of you and how you're basically the best thing ever."

Remus was beyond confused. He'd never gotten that kind of praise from his father. Remus knew his father loved him, but praising and adoring John Lupin was not. "I can't even imagine," Remus said.

"Trust me, I'm not lying." Ephraim then leaned forward so his arms were on the desk. His caramel eyes pierced Remus's. "So how does your husband feel about you working such long hours?"

Remus didn't particularly like the inflection that Ephraim put on the word "husband," but he simply frowned slightly and answered anyway. "He's glad. I stayed home a lot when our daughter was born, so he's happy to see me out and doing what I love again."

Ephraim nodded and leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. He then crossed one leg over the other. "So, did you two do surrogacy or what?"

"We adopted," Remus said. "She was several months old when she came to us, but she was a preemie, so she was still tiny like a newborn."

"A preemie?" Ephraim said, raising an eyebrow. "That must have been hard."

"It was," Remus said simply. He didn't really feel like going into detail about the first few months of Teddy being home with them. He hated remembering her so tiny and helpless.

"But she's strong and healthy now?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Remus said with a smile. "She has her hands in everything, she's constantly exploring, and she runs around the house as fast as her little legs will carry her."

"You love her a lot," Ephraim said with a tilt of his head. Remus looked up at him and saw that the man was studying him intently.

"More than anything."

"More than your husband?" Ephraim said with a grin.

Remus chuckled. "It's a different kind of love." Ephraim nodded with a smile and after a pause, Remus spoke again. "So what about you? Do you have a family or anyone special in your life?"

Ephraim laughed. "God, no. I'm only twenty-four. I don't intend on having a family or settling down with 'someone special' for several more years."

Remus shrugged his shoulders. "You never know when that someone might come along."

Ephraim laughed and shook his head. "I suppose you're right, but for now I'm content with working a lot and having as much fun as I can. I'm sure you felt the same way, what, five years ago?"

"Not really," Remus said with a shrug. "I was determined to work hard to impress my father, but I was always a long-term relationship kind of guy."

"Hmm…" Ephraim said as his eyes narrowed a bit. "Yeah, you seem the type."

Remus just chuckled and stood up. "I'm not sure what that means." Ephraim stood up as well as Remus gathered up a few things. "I should get home. I could do for a back rub from my husband and some kisses from my daughter."

"Sounds nice," Ephraim said as he stood up and stretched. Remus heard a few bones cracking, and he couldn't help but glance over at the muscles that bulged slightly in Ephraim's arms as he stretched them over his head.

Remus walked to the door and held it open for Ephraim to walk out. Ephraim walked to the door but stopped when he was directly in front of Remus. "You're doing a really great job," he said quietly in his deep, rasping voice. "You don't have to work so hard."

"You think so?" Remus said. He couldn't help the relief that flooded through him at Ephraim's words. The relief almost made the fact that Ephraim was so close that his breath was ghosting over Remus's face go unnoticed. Almost.

"Of course," Ephraim said with a grin. "You already worked here for years, so the workers all already know, love, and respect you. You know what you're doing, and it's been three weeks and you still haven't managed to burn the place to the ground." Remus laughed and Ephraim smiled wider. "That's a feat."

"Thanks," Remus said. "Besides that last part, I really needed to hear that."

Ephraim put a hand on Remus's shoulder, and Remus looked at it briefly before he turned back to the man. "Anytime," Ephraim said. "Anytime."

* * *

"Hi, Gretchen," Sirius said as he walked into the waiting area with his briefcase in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

"Good morning, Professor Black," she said as he set the coffee on her desk. "For me?" He nodded. "You're so sweet."

"I try," he said, returning her smile.

She took a sip of the coffee and sighed with a smile before looking back up at him. "You have a visitor. I told him he could wait in your office."

"Okay great, thanks."

Sirius walked into his office and frowned a bit when he saw the back of the head of an older man—clearly not one of his students.

"Can I help you?" Sirius said as he walked around his desk to face the man. When the man looked up at him, Sirius's breath caught in his throat.

"Professor," Sirius said in a slightly shaky voice, extending his hand.

"Mr. Black," the man said as he stood up to take Sirius's hand. Then, "My apologies, _Professor_ Black," he said with a smile. "I've been meaning to come and see you since you started, but beginning of the year, you know. It's busy. I've got a lot of students coming into my office." He paused. "But I'm sure you do as well. You've been the talk of the school since you got here."

"Have I?" Sirius chuckled a bit nervously and gestured for the aging professor to take a seat. It didn't matter how many years had passed, the man was still the most intimidating man he'd ever known. "Then I guess I'm like you. I remember my first year when _you_ were all anyone could talk about."

He laughed. "Is that so?"

Sirius nodded and then sighed. "It's great to see you, Professor Slughorn," he said as he settled into his own chair.

"It's great to see you, Mr. Black," Slughorn said with a smile. "Professor Black," he corrected again and shrugged. "Old habits, you know."

"You can just call me Sirius," Sirius said.

"Well, then you can call me Horace."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "That might take some getting used to."

Slughorn chuckled. "Anyway, Sirius, I admit, I came here for more than just a welcome."

"Oh?"

Slughorn paused. "Can I tell you a story?"

"Of course."

Slughorn smiled slightly. "About ten years ago my father got really sick. He was an old man, anyway, but he had always been healthy and the doctors would always tell him that he had many _many_ good years ahead of him.

"My father had always taken care of his health. His was incredibly fit for an 80-year-old man. He always got regular check ups, and he always made sure to exercise and eat well. He never smoked, rarely ever drank, and so when the doctor told him he had lung cancer, we were all pretty shocked… But he had grown up in an era where chemicals were sprayed over whole cities, and asbestos lined the walls of most houses. He'd tried so hard to be healthy, but in the end, it didn't even matter.

"He was only in the first stage, so there was a good chance that he could be treated with surgery and radiation and chemotherapy. The doctor said the surgery and the chemo would cut some years off his life, but that it would give him probably at least three to five more good years. We decided to take what we could get."

Slughorn sighed. "When we went to get him the surgery and start the treatment, however, his insurance company told him that the treatment wouldn't be covered because he was deemed a 'high-risk client' and his cancer was considered a pre-existing condition. They nearly tripled his premium and when my father tried to challenge it, they dropped him for missing payments. After my father had been a healthy man, paying dutifully for health insurance for fifty years, they dropped him just like that.

"We tried to fight it, but the cancer was progressing rapidly. He applied for Medicare, but it's a process, and the doctor told us that if we didn't begin the treatment soon, the cancer would progress beyond treatability." Slughorn's voice waivered a bit. "You know my father hadn't applied for Medicare originally because he believed in private health insurance. He believed in that system. As soon as he'd turned 65, I had told him to get it, but he didn't listen. He was always a free marketeer and he thought Medicare was just the first step to socialism in this country." Slughorn chuckled. "The old fool."

"By the time the Medicare benefits would come through, my father was severely sick. The cancer had progressed to stage three and the mass on his lung had expanded so much that the doctor said even if they tried to remove it, it likely wouldn't be successful. Even with chemo and radiation, he would probably only get six more months, and they would have been a painful and torturous six months."

Slughorn paused a moment. "My mother had died about five years prior, so it was just me and my sister there with him. We were scared, the two of us, but my father told us not to be. He told us he'd lived a long, beautiful life with a wonderful woman, and they had raised two wonderful children together that he couldn't be more proud of. He told us that every life came to an end but that didn't mean that those around them should stop living." He paused again. "He decided not to get the treatment, but to just die peacefully. 'Don't worry about me' he told us as his frail little body was beginning to deteriorate to nothing. 'I'm going to be with your mother,' he said."

Sirius felt tears sting his eyes and Slughorn began to wrap up his story. "It was a Wednesday night when he died. I had just come from teaching a class."

Slughorn looked up at Sirius, and Sirius's breath caught momentarily. "Do you know why I tell you this story, Sirius?" Sirius thought he knew, but he let Slughorn keep talking. "My father got his insurance from the Riddle Corporation." There was a long pause as Slughorn let that sink in. "After watching my healthy father become a weak old man who couldn't feed or bathe himself; after watching him die slowly over the span of a few months; after watching a man who could have had ten more good years become a shell of his former self because he couldn't get treatment, I vowed that if it was the last thing I did, I would see that the Riddle Corporation paid for what they did.

"I began building up a case. When I wasn't working for my classes, I did research, spoke with colleagues who specialized in this kind of thing. I wanted to create a class action lawsuit so I could help all the families of the people that had to go through the same kind of thing. It took me a few years, and right when I thought I had enough, I saw your face and your father's face on the news.

"You know, Sirius, I had always been proud of the work you'd done as my student, but when I saw that your firm was defending Riddle, in that moment… I _hated_ you. It made me sick." Sirius didn't speak. He didn't think he could even if he wanted to. "But then, just a few months had passed, and you were defending your brother against Riddle. After you'd gotten him off, it appeared that you were determined to tear Riddle all the way down. You took arms up against your father's lawsuit with Riddle. And you won."

Slughorn studied Sirius for several moments. "The point of this story is this: you are an extremely accomplished attorney, Sirius. You've done things in your short legal career that it takes most attorneys decades to do, if they even can. You have your own firm, you've won major legal battles, and you have a professorship at a prestigious law school. But, Sirius… I want you to know that no matter what you accomplish in your career in further years, nothing will compare to the lives you saved and the people you helped when you saw to the fall of the Riddle Corporation. You…" His voice broke. He nodded for several seconds before he spoke with a shaky voice. "Nothing else matters—awards you might get, money you might win—nothing matters because you saved millions of lives."

"Professor—" Sirius finally tried to speak, but Slughorn stood up abruptly and swiped a hand across his eyes quickly.

"I just wanted to thank you in person, Sirius," he said, reaching out a hand. When Sirius grasped it, Slughorn looked at him for a few long seconds. "Thank you, Sirius."

Sirius simply nodded.

When Slughorn turned to leave, Sirius called out to him.

"Professor!"

Slughorn turned back with a small smile. "Yes, Sirius?"

"What… What was your father's name?"

Slughorn smiled, and Sirius thought he saw tears well in the old man's eyes as he breathed in deeply. "His name was Emeril. Emeril Francis Slughorn."

* * *

Remus pulled up to his house late that evening and was happy to see Sirius's car already on the street. Dora's bike was still secured against the tree in their front yard as well. He parked behind Sirius's car, and half-walked, half-jogged up to the house. All he wanted to do was see Teddy and then crawl into bed and cuddle with Sirius. He smiled to himself at the thought as he put his key in the front door and went inside.

"Hello?" he called out when he got inside.

"Teddy and I are in here," Dora answered from the family room.

"Daddy!" Teddy yelled as she came barreling around the corner and threw herself around Remus's legs.

Remus scooped the toddler in his arms and planted a wet kiss on her cheek. She was in her pajamas and her thick, black hair was wet from her bath.

"What did you do today?" Remus asked Teddy.

"Well, I went to preschool, and Tonks picked me up and we walked home and we played outside a little and then we read some books and now we're playing makeover."

Remus looked up as Dora turned around and small smile. Remus laughed at the "make up" all over her face. It looked far more like Teddy had tried to color with markers on Dora's face, but Remus wouldn't say that out loud. "You look beautiful, Dora," he said with a smile.

Even under the make up, Remus could see her blush. "It's Tonks," she said as she turned away from him.

"I told her she looked so pretty, Daddy, but she didn't believe me," Teddy told him with a broad smile. Obviously she'd taken Remus's compliment as a compliment to her abilities rather than to Dora's actual looks.

"Is Daddy home?" Remus asked Teddy.

Teddy nodded as she waddled back over to Dora. "He's in his office."

"He ordered pizza," Dora said. "I left some warming in the oven for you."

"Thanks, _Tonks_," Remus said. He gave her a grin before he walked past, but he stopped in the doorway. "You're doing a great job, by the way," he said. "You have no idea how much of a help you are to Sirius and me. And Teddy loves you. We all do."

Tonks blushed again. "Thanks," she said with a shy smile, and Remus returned the smile before he went to find Sirius. Pizza could wait.

When he got to Sirius's office, he stood in the doorway for a moment, watching Sirius work. God, Remus loved him. Just watching him work made Remus's heart race. Imagining that his man was all his for the rest of their lives… It always made Remus unimaginably happy.

"Working hard or hardly working?" Remus asked from the doorway.

"Remus," Sirius breathed when he looked up quickly, a bit startled at the sound of the other man's voice. "I'm so happy you're home," he said as he got up to greet Remus at the door. Remus met him halfway, however, and they embraced in the middle of the room. Remus inhaled Sirius's familiar sent as he buried his face into the man's neck. Remus then planted a kiss on Sirius's neck, causing Sirius to slide his hands up to cup Remus's face so he could kiss him.

"I missed you today," Remus said when he and Sirius broke apart.

"Back at you," Sirius said as his hands slid down and around Remus's waist and Remus's came up around Sirius's neck. "I had a thought today," Sirius said.

"And what was that?" Remus asked.

"We should get away this weekend."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Sirius said before leaning in a kissing Remus on the neck. "We've both been working hard these last few weeks, and this will probably be one of the last warm weekends of fall." Sirius kissed him on the other side of his neck.

"Mm…"

"We'll relax, watch the stars…" Sirius said, kissing Remus on the neck between words. He ran his nose along Remus's neck where his jaw began. "…make love," he said before nibbling Remus's earlobe.

"Enough," Remus said, grabbing Sirius's face in between his hands. "You convinced me," he said before pulling Sirius's face to him and kissing him hard. Both men got lost in the kisses, but Remus had to stop things before they got too carried away with Tonks and Teddy in the other room. Instead, Remus made it up to Sirius later that night and promised he would keep making it up to him this weekend. A promise he was sure to keep.

* * *

_Preview for next chapter: _

_Remus and Sirius go away for the weekend. The truth comes out._


	10. Truth Be Told

_A/N: Hi! So I'm back a LOT sooner than before. Thanks to all those who reviewed and thanks to all the readers who have trusted me enough to stick with this story. It means a lot! So, I should warn you that this chapter is incredibly explicit. I honestly don't know what got into me when I wrote it... Well, I hope you enjoy it. If it's too much... Well, then... there's nothing I can say... Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 9: Truth Be Told**

Remus tried to stifle a yawn as he sat across from Andrew at the Three Broomsticks. Sirius had kept him up late the night before with… various pursuits, and Remus was paying the price the following day. His only solace was the fact that Sirius was at the office today, and he would be paying the price as well.

It was Friday afternoon. Remus had left work early to grab a late lunch with Andrew before he and Sirius were going to meet back home before they drove out to the Highland House for the weekend. Things with Andrew seemed tenser than they ever had when the two men had shared time together. Remus sensed that Andrew was upset about something, but Remus didn't know if they were on the kind of friendship level where Andrew would feel comfortable talking to him about it. Were they even friends? They certainly spent a significant amount of time together, but Remus knew full well that their relationship was weird and based solely on conditions. He didn't really know what it was.

Anyway, Remus had decided they had probably had enough for the day at any rate. He was tired of sitting through large blocks of tense silence.

"I should probably head out," Remus said. Andrew looked up at him. "Sirius and I are going away for the weekend and I told him—"

"I've had enough of this, Remus," Andrew snapped suddenly.

"Enough of what?" Remus asked slowly, although he already had a pretty good idea of what Andrew was referring to.

"This. Us. Whatever this is. I'm sick of being vetted." He paused. "Look, Remus, I understood it four months ago, but I've had enough now. I want to talk to Sirius, and I've abided by your wishes. I think it's about time you just gave me your blessing."

"Andrew—"

"Honestly, Remus, I'm going to talk to him now whether you want me to or not. I've done everything you've asked of me, and I'm over it."

"I know."

"I want to talk to him, Remus. I think I've earned it. I—"

"Andrew," Remus said firmly. "I know." They regarded each other for a few moments before Remus spoke again. "We're going away this weekend. We'll be away from everything for a while just the two of us. It'll be the perfect time for me to explain things to him and talk to him about what's been going on. After I can talk to him, I promise I'll get out of your way. How's that?" Remus finished.

Andrew nodded. And a moment later, he was gone.

* * *

Remus slipped his hand onto Sirius's leg as the drove down the highway toward their old home. Sirius smiled and leaned over to kiss Remus's temple, making Remus sigh contentedly. After dropping Teddy off with Remus's parents with—much to his parents' annoyance—vast instructions for the weekend ("We _have_ done this before, you know," his father had said. "You're still alive, aren't you?"), they had set out for the place that they had called home for four years.

It was definitely a much-needed weekend for the two of them. They had each been so busy with work over the past several months that even dinner together had started to become hard to come by. And any free time they had, they wanted to spend it with Teddy so she didn't feel neglected in any way. The family had been going through a lot of changes lately and they wanted their daughter to keep feeling safe and loved, which meant that their love for each other would have to fall by the wayside. This weekend was a way to correct that and both of them were incredibly grateful for it.

A bit later, they were on the narrow, gravel road that led to the Highland House. Remus watched as the trees and land that had been such an enormous part of his childhood glided by. When he thought back to his adolescent years, it was hard to imagine that he was where he was today. Back when he was 12 and searching for rare plant and bug species around their property, he was just a skinny, scared boy who knew he was different but didn't know how or why. He knew he had a crush on his neighbor down the way, Ben, but he didn't understand why or that it was okay. He thought no one would ever love him or care for him. When he was barely 20, he'd met Severus and he thought that everything would be different. It certainly was different, but not in a way that was healthy for Remus. He'd been stuck in a relationship that seemed to drag him down into the deepest, darkest parts of him, making him hate himself more than anyone else ever could. Remus could remember sitting out on the swing at Highland, wondering how he'd gotten himself into such a terrible mess. He'd had a similar thought when he'd come out here just after the first time he and Sirius were together.

Now, it seemed that Remus was living in some kind of dream. How had he gone from that to where he was now in such a short time? How had he gotten so incredibly lucky? And as Sirius drove past the old swing set on which Remus had had many internal battles with himself, he could see his young, skinny form sitting there looking sad. Before Remus realized that it was just a figment of his imagination, he wanted to tell Sirius to stop the car. He wanted to get out and tell that little Remus that everything would be okay. That it would get better. That one day he would be happy—that he would have an amazing husband and the most incredible little girl that made his heart clench each and every single time she called him "daddy." He wanted to tell that 20-year-old Remus that he deserved better and that one day he would have it. That he didn't have to settle for abuse and neglect from a man who couldn't even find it in himself to love any person around him, including himself. He just wanted that sad, scared boy to know that it would get better.

When the car slowed and Sirius came to a stop, each of them got out of the car in silence. The doors slammed almost together as they got out. They made eye contact over the car, and Sirius smiled at Remus before he ducked down to grab his bag out of the back seat. Remus then bent down to grab his own bag, but Sirius reached out and took it before Remus could.

"I got it," he said, with a smile. Remus smiled back and nodded.

"Thanks," Remus said.

Then they both stood up and slammed the back doors, almost together again. They made eye contact above the car again, and Remus didn't really know why but this time he couldn't keep Sirius's eye contact. When Sirius smiled at him, Remus just blushed and looked down. It was almost like the first time he'd brought Sirius out here. Remus had been so nervous and yet so perfectly comfortable with Sirius.

"_Ready?" Remus asked Sirius._

"_More than you know."_

_Remus took Sirius's hand and intertwined his fingers into Sirius's. It was such a nice feeling—a gesture that was so enormous and yet so simple. Rarely did they just walk together and hold hands. Remus would definitely be able to get used to it. His heart sped up when Sirius squeezed his hand. _

_A moment later, Remus stopped and Sirius did the same. Remus then walked behind Sirius and began to work on the blindfold that was tied behind his head. Remus's stomach knotted in anticipation. God, he hoped Sirius would have the reaction that Remus so desperately wanted from him. He just wanted Sirius to love it up here the same way he did. Finally, after his blindfold was removed, Sirius gasped. He swept his dark hair out of his eyes as he looked up. _

_Remus watched him as he looked up. He was like a child that was seeing Santa Clause for the first time. It was like never in his life had Sirius seen stars shining so bright. And never had he seen so many stars in the sky. Of course he had seen stars before. He and his family were fairly well traveled and he had been to places outside of New York that weren't polluted with light that blocked the stars from shining. The stars he'd seen before, however, felt like cheap imitations of the ones he was seeing right now. These stars were the real stars—they had to be the stars that only a few people had ever seen. They were too special to be seen by just anyone in Sirius's opinion. There were so many stars that there was hardly any space between them, and the stars were so bright that the sky seemed to be lit up like Times Square. It literally took Sirius's breath away. _

"_It's beautiful, Remus."_

Remus sighed at the memory. Everything had been so new then. And now here they were, married with a child, and Remus more in love with Sirius than ever.

Sirius walked slightly ahead of Remus as they approached the front door of the house. When they reached the front door, Sirius unlocked it and held it open for Remus. Remus looked up at him and smiled before going in. Remus began walking past the foyer and into the house, but he felt Sirius's hand on his wrist, pulling him back. Remus turned and Sirius dropped their bags next to the door before he pulled Remus to him.

Remus let Sirius guide him and they ended up nose to nose. Sirius brought his hands up to Remus's neck and turned them around so Remus's back was against the door. Remus shivered as he felt Sirius's breath on his face. Sirius stepped closer so that Remus's body was sandwiched between Sirius and the door. Remus's hands came up to Sirius's hips and he pulled Sirius even closer. Sirius leaned forward to brush his lips against Remus's and Remus tilted his head to the side. Sirius then moved his lips down to kiss Remus's jawline and Remus sighed deeply. Just a moment later, Sirius was dragging his nose across Remus's cheek, inhaling his scent, before his lips found Remus's again.

Every kiss means something different. There's the short, quick kiss when you're greeting someone or saying goodbye for the day. It's a kiss to remind that person that you love them—easy, quick, simple. There's the kiss in the middle of passion. There's no thought of what you're doing or how you're doing it. You just want every part of your body to be touching that person. It's a desperate kiss—a kiss that tries to reach every part of the person in the fastest and fiercest way possible. There's the kiss after you haven't seen someone in a long time. It's the kiss that reminds both of you that you're still here and always will be. There's the apology kiss, the special occasion kiss, the thank you kiss—each important kisses that mean something different to everyone.

Then there was this kiss—a kiss for the sole purpose of letting Remus know every single thing that Sirius felt about him. It was like the moment their lips joined, all thought flew from Remus's head and was replaced with all of Sirius's feelings for him. It was overwhelming. Remus began to feel his knees go weak so he clutched more tightly at Sirius's hips to steady himself. Sirius took that as Remus asking for more and the heat began to intensify. Sirius slipped his tongue into Remus's mouth as he pulled Remus's face closer. Remus whimpered and held on tighter. Sirius's hands moved from Remus's neck down to his arms—they slid down to his wrists until Sirius was gripping them and pulling them off of his waist. He then pulled them up so they were pinned against the door above Remus's head. Then he moved his mouth from Remus's down to Remus's neck.

"Sirius," Remus breathed, unconsciously trying to press his hips to Sirius's for some friction. Sirius used one hand to keep Remus's arms pinned and he moved the other down to the collar of Remus's shirt. While he bit and sucked and kissed Remus's neck, he began to slowly unbutton Remus's shirt. As soon as he finished, his kisses moved from Remus's neck down to his chest and Remus sighed Sirius's name again. Sirius moved back up to Remus's neck after several moments, making sure to keep Remus's arms pinned above him. Remus's hips were now rocking absently and when Sirius pressed his body against Remus's side, he slipped a hand into Remus's pants causing Remus to let out a choked moan. He kept his mouth on Remus's neck as he began to stroke him.

Only a short time passed before Remus began to moan continuously. What Sirius was doing was enough to drive Remus crazy but not enough to bring him over the edge. "Sirius," he moaned. In his mind it was a plea for more, but he knew it came out as a moan of pleasure. But as if Sirius could read his mind, as soon as Remus moaned his name, he released Remus's arms from above his head and dropped to his knees in front of Remus.

"Yes, baby, yes," Remus moaned as he watched Sirius unbutton and unzip his pants quickly. "Yes."

It seemed like an eternity to Remus, but not a moment later, Sirius was swallowing Remus as far as he could go. Both of Remus's hands flew to Sirius's head as he nearly came right then. Remus moaned loudly as his fingers intertwined into Sirius's hair and he began to guide Sirius along his length. Remus had to try desperately not to let his hips buck and choke Sirius, but as always, Sirius could read his mind, so he brought his hands up to Remus's hips to keep them steady. It didn't matter much, however, because Remus knew he was already fast approaching his peak. As Sirius moved along his length, he could feel that familiar feeling—it started at the tips of his fingers and toes and slowly made its way up through his arms and legs and through the rest of his body until it all came right to the center—right to his core.

"Sirius," Remus moaned loudly. "Sirius—fuck," he moaned even louder as Sirius began to speed up and increase his suction. "Sirius—unh, Sirius, don't…" Remus threw his head back and tightened his grip in Sirius's hair as his body tensed and he released himself into Sirius's mouth.

Sirius stayed there for a moment, Remus's hands still clutched in his hair, as he swallowed everything Remus had. Remus moaned a few more times as Sirius licked him clean before he stood up. He leaned in and bit Remus's neck hard—making Remus whimper—before, without saying anything, he took Remus's hand and guided him to the bedroom. Remus was still hanging out of his pants as they walked to the room, but neither of them seemed to care.

As soon as they were to the room, Sirius roughly pushed the door open and dragged Remus inside. Before Remus could say or do anything, Sirius yanked his arm and pulled him forward so he could push him onto the bed. Remus fell back on the bed and watched as Sirius pulled Remus's pants the rest of the way off. Sirius then pulled his own shirt off and moved onto the bed in between Remus's legs. Remus's button down was hanging open, exposing his chest and stomach to Sirius, but Sirius only had eyes for one part of Remus's anatomy.

He just watched. For what felt like forever, Sirius just eyed Remus's cock like a starved animal eying its prey. Remus could feel himself growing hot under Sirius's gaze, and as if Sirius's mind had somehow willed it, Remus began to get hard again without Sirius so much as laying a hand on him. Sirius smiled wickedly at Remus, who flushed. Remus then moved his hands down to Sirius's zipper, trying to get him out, while Sirius moved to get what he so desperately needed from their end table.

Before Remus could pull Sirius out of his pants, Sirius threw the little bottle of what he'd been looking for onto Remus's stomach and swatted Remus's hand away from the front of his jeans. Sirius looked at Remus for several moments and, knowing what Sirius wanted, Remus squeeze the substance from the tube onto his fingers and moved his fingers down to his entrance. Sirius's eyes drooped a bit as he watched Remus prepare himself. Remus saw the tent in Sirius's pants and, as always, was so turned on by how much Sirius wanted him. Sirius—who hadn't spoken since they'd entered the doors of the house—never pulled his eyes away from what Remus was doing. For his part, Remus couldn't take his eyes off of Sirius. He so desperately wanted to see his reactions, and when Remus slipped a third finger inside and arched off the bed a bit, Sirius moaned, practically yanked Remus's hand away and quickly pulled his pants down just enough so he could expose himself and thrust inside Remus. Sirius grunted loudly as Remus arched off the bed and his hands flew above his head and he pressed his palms against the headboard.

Normally when they would begin, Sirius would start off gentle and build up, but this time, there was none of that—Sirius was thrusting hard and unforgiving into Remus, making Remus's moans echo throughout the room and most likely throughout the house. They hadn't been able to be this loud and wild and uninhibited since their honeymoon, and the way Sirius was fucking him, it was like it was going to be their last time.

From the look on Sirius's face, Remus could tell that his husband was close to his edge, but it didn't matter because Remus was already almost there again, too. Remus arched and angled himself so that Sirius would hit _that_ spot, and Sirius reached up to stroke Remus.

"Come," Sirius said in a deep, raspy voice. His eyes were locked on Remus's. Remus was never one not to obey orders, so when Sirius thrust a few more times and pulled at Remus, Remus obliged and did as Sirius commanded. The blood was roaring in Remus's ears so when, after a few more thrusts, he thought he heard the faint sound of his name being yelled, he hardly noticed it as he still road out the wave of his two close-together orgasms.

Sirius was still inside him as he leaned down and kissed Remus. Remus held him tightly as they kissed, and soon, the kisses were heating up again. A few minutes later, Remus felt Sirius growing hard in him again, and not long after that, they were both catapulting into bliss again and again.

The two of them stayed like that for hours. It wasn't until it was completely dark outside and Remus heard Sirius's stomach growl that either of them realized how long they'd been at it. Remus was curled up against Sirius's side with his head on Sirius's heart, and Sirius was absently stroking Remus's hair when Remus heard Sirius's stomach. Sirius chuckled and Remus looked up at him.

"Let me make you something to eat." Remus noticed how hoarse his voice sounded.

"I'm fine," Sirius said.

"No, I brought lots of food… but I left it in the car. Let me go get it."

"Tell you what," Sirius said. "I'll go get it and I'll make us both something."

"Sirius—"

"Look, after what I put you through today, you could use the rest."

Remus rolled his eyes but couldn't suppress a grin. "As if I didn't wear you out."

"Oh not at all," Sirius said as he moved out from under Remus. "In fact," he said as he slipped his boxers back on, but nothing else, "I'm coming back for more after we eat."

Remus arched an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

In response, Sirius simply winked and left the room.

"Hey!" Remus called after him. "Are you going to walk outside like that?"

"No one can see me!" Sirius called back before Remus heard the front door open.

Remus shook his head and laid back on the bed. He had to admit that Sirius was right. Remus was already worn out and they still had all day tomorrow. Remus sighed and smiled.

A few minutes later, Remus was laying in bed as he heard the familiar sounds of cooking in the kitchen. In the next moment, he couldn't help but wonder what Teddy was doing. Part of him had wanted to bring her along for their weekend getaway, but the bigger part of him knew that he and Sirius needed time away from all their cares. And as much as he adored Teddy, he knew he needed a break from the sweet girl. But that didn't mean he couldn't call her.

Remus slid out of bed and pulled on his jeans that had been discarded earlier. He padded quietly to the foyer where he and Sirius's bags had been left abandoned and he picked them up and brought them into their room. Then Remus took his phone out of his bag, plopped back onto the bed, and dialed his parents.

"_Hello?"_

"Hi mom, it's me."

"_Remus honey, how are you? Teddy is fine if that's why you're calling."_

"I'm sure you two are taking great care of her."

"_Well, she's currently washing up in the toilet after we let her play in dog poop outside." _

"Mom…"

"_Remus…"_ his mom mimicked.

"_Is that Remus?"_ Remus heard his father call.

"_Yes!" _his mother returned. _"He wants to make sure we didn't kill his daughter."_

"_Did you tell him she's playing in the toilet?"_

"Mom! Is she really playing in the toilet!"

"_Oh, Remus, stop. Teddy! Come in here, honey, your daddy wants to talk to you!"_

"_Daddy?" _Teddy's little voice came a moment later.

"Hi honey. How's granny and gramps?"

"_Oh, good. They're letting me play in the toilet."_

In the background, Remus heard both of his parents roar with laughter. "Oh my god…" Remus said under his breath.

"_Just kidding, daddy. Granny said to chill out."_

Remus couldn't help but laugh. "Okay Teddy, well, you get back to playing in the toilet. I just wanted to call you to tell you I love you and I miss you and I'll see you on Sunday."

"_Love you too, Daddy, bye!"_

A second later, the line went dead. Remus laughed and shook his head. He may have missed his girl, but she was far too happy to be with her grandparents to be worried about her dads missing her. Remus went to get out of bed again and find Sirius when the phone rang again. He answered it quickly.

"Okay, okay, I'll leave you guys alone," Remus said with a laugh when he answered. When there was several seconds of no answer on the other line, Remus frowned. "Hello?" No response. "Hello?" Remus said with a bit more force. A second later, the line went dead. Remus's frown deepened when he heard Sirius call.

"Who was that?"

"No one," Remus said. "Wrong number."

"Okay, well, get your sexy ass in here. Dinner is served."

Remus grinned and put the phone call into the back of his mind.

"What's for dinner?" Remus asked when he walked into the kitchen.

"Pasta," Sirius said as he put a big plate of rotini noodles and red sauce in front of Remus. "Meat and gluten free, hippie," Sirius added.

Remus rolled his eyes.

"Eat up," Sirius said. "You need your strength."

Remus laughed and began to shovel food into his mouth. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until the steam was rising into his nostrils.

Several minutes later, Remus looked up and found Sirius with a hardly eaten plate, staring up at him with his chin in the palm of his hand.

"What?" Remus asked. He touched his face. "Did I get sauce on my face?"

Sirius laughed. "No, Rem."

"Oh."

Sirius laughed again and looked down at his plate. Remus felt a warm feeling rush over him at the thought of Sirius unable to take his eyes off of him.

Remus went back to his food, but a moment later, he had that now very familiar feeling that someone was looking at him. He looked up and caught Sirius's eye.

"What?" Remus said through his pleased laughter.

Sirius smiled and reached out to take Remus's hand. He tilted his head and regarded Remus for a moment. "Remus…"

Remus's brow creased a bit. "What?"

"I… I just love you."

Remus smiled. "I love you, too, Sirius."

Sirius shook his head. "No, Remus, I really am wildly in love with you. I just…" He sighed. "Remus, I just don't know who I'd be or where I'd be without you. I'd be lost."

Remus's smile slipped a bit. And with his pleasure, he suddenly felt a twist of guilt. "Sirius…"

"No, Remus, I'm serious. I… I'd be nothing without you. And you know…" Sirius released Remus's hand and rubbed his hand down his face. "I just can't even imagine my life without you. I was lost before I met you and I'd be lost without you know," Sirius started talking faster. "When I think about where I was then, I just get so confused, because it's hard to even remember what my life was like before you. It's like I was born when I met you. I just… I love you." He laughed. "I feel like I'm rambling and not making any sense. I just suddenly got this feeling like I was unimaginably happy and just… _lucky_, and I owe that all to you. You and Teddy and this life I have now that I never even imagined having. I… It's fate. You…" Sirius looked up at Remus and for a few seconds he just studied Remus. Then a look crossed his features like something had dawned on him. "Remus… You're my destiny." Remus's heart seemed to stop in that moment. "I know that sounds corny, but… but it's true. I just—"

A split second later, there was a clatter as the chair Remus had been sitting in tipped back as he stood up quickly and rushed into Sirius's arms. He grabbed Sirius's face in his hands and tipped his head back so he could kiss his husband hard. Sirius made a small noise and grabbed Remus's waist to pull him closer.

"Remus…" Sirius sighed when Remus's mouth moved to his neck. "Remus, I love you…" he breathed as he gripped Remus harder.

A moment later, Remus stepped away from Sirius and looked down at him from where he was still sitting. They stayed like that for a long time—just looking at each other. Then, Remus reached his hand out and waited for Sirius to take his. When Sirius did, Remus pulled him up, turned around and guided them to their bedroom. Wordlessly, Remus turned Sirius around, put both hands on his bare chest and applied pressure so Sirius would know what he wanted. Sirius obliged and sat back on the bed. Remus walked close and pulled Sirius's boxers off. Naked, Sirius moved back further on the bed and watched as Remus walked toward him, his pants still on, and crawled onto the bed and in between Sirius's legs. Remus lowered himself on top of Sirius and leaned in to nip at Sirius's bottom lip. Sirius leaned forward to try to meet Remus, but Remus backed up with a grin. Remus then leaned forward again and when Sirius tried to meet him again, Remus did the same thing. This time, with a growl, Sirius grabbed the back of Remus's neck and pulled him forward into a deep kiss. Remus smiled against Sirius's mouth. Sirius's elbow slipped that he had been leaning on and the two of them fell against the bed, Remus on top of Sirius, and Sirius wrapped both arms around Remus's neck as their tongues intertwined. Remus could feel Sirius hard underneath him. And although the fabric of Remus's jeans separated them, when Remus moved against Sirius, Sirius moaned into Remus's mouth.

They kissed deeply for a long time before Remus finally had to come up for air. Sirius's neck was flushed, his eyes were dilated, and he was breathing heavily—all just reaffirming Remus's thought that Sirius was the sexiest man on earth. Remus leaned in and kissed Sirius's neck. Sirius sighed Remus's name as Remus's kisses moved to his chest. He trailed down Sirius's chest and to his stomach. He kept going further still and when he made it to Sirius's cock, he slowly placed wet kisses along the length. And finally, a moment later, he was at his destination when he placed a kiss at Sirius's entrance. Sirius let out a loud squeak and bucked violently.

They rarely did this. Remus's mouth rarely went further south than Sirius's shaft, and Remus didn't particularly enjoy Sirius's mouth further south than his shaft either. But Remus knew how absolutely wild this drove Sirius, so sometimes—on special occasions—he would do this for him. And after everything his husband had said just moments ago, he would definitely consider this a special occasion.

When Remus's tongue came out to trace Sirius's entrance, Sirius's hands flew to Remus's head and he gripped Remus's hair as he called out Remus's name. This was what made it worth it in Remus's opinion. Watching Sirius completely lose his mind over something Remus was doing to him was insanely hot for Remus. The first time Remus had done it to Sirius years ago, Sirius had convulsed for several minutes after, shaking uncontrollably as he came and Remus watched him and came himself just from seeing Sirius (which was a first for Remus).

For a while, Remus just teased Sirius's puckered hole, making Sirius tremble and buck occasionally. A curse would slip in often intermingled with Remus's name tumbling off Sirius's lips. His grip on Remus's hair had loosened a bit. Then, Remus slipped his tongue inside and Sirius's grip tightened in one hand while his other hand flew to the pillow that was under his head and he grabbed it in his fist. Remus bent Sirius's knees slightly and spread them apart so he could get better access. Remus could tell that Sirius was at his brink so he stroked up and down his length a few times. When Sirius's legs began to stiffen and he began to moan Remus's name continuously, Remus stopped. Sirius sighed and relaxed but didn't protest. His breath was coming out in short, heavy gasps, and when Remus was satisfied that Sirius was sufficiently away from his peak, he continued his pursuits.

"Remus… God, Remus…" Sirius moaned loudly as he gripped the pillow tighter.

Wickedly, Remus brought Sirius to his peak and back several more times. After the final time when Remus pulled his mouth away and watched Sirius tremble with need on the bed, Sirius started to beg.

"Remus…" He tried to reach out and grab Remus and pull him back down, but he was largely incoherent and hardly knew what he was reaching out for. "Remus… please…"

Remus, ready to watch Sirius fall over the edge, brought his mouth back down. Sirius was almost instantly at his peak again. Sirius bit the edge of the pillow that he was holding onto for dear life and his grip in Remus's hair tightened. Sirius was practically screaming Remus's name now and Remus knew he couldn't be so cruel as to not let him come this time so he continued his actions until he could feel a few hairs loosen from his scalp as Sirius cried out. Words and moans and pleas and curses were spewing from Sirius's mouth as he came. He was shaking violently and Remus knew this would last even longer than the first time since he'd held it out for so long.

Remus didn't think about that, though. He didn't think about the fact that they should both be thankful they were in a silent, secluded house so no one could hear how loud Sirius was being. All he could think about was giving Sirius the most pleasure he had ever felt in his life. And Remus continued with his mouth at Sirius's hole and suddenly Sirius—who had fallen limp—was now hard again and he was biting the pillow so hard to silence himself, but it was a lost cause. Even with the pillow his grunts and moans were so loud, and it was all Remus could hear—all he wanted to hear.

Remus had come after Sirius had come the first time, but he could feel himself growing hard again, too, as he brought Sirius over the edge a second time. And as Sirius cried out a string of incoherent words and moans and screams, Remus finally came up and watched as Sirius came and shook and twitched. He had tears pouring out of his eyes, and Remus was amazed that Sirius could completely loose control of himself just from what Remus had just done. Sirius tried to hide his face in his pillow as he continued to react, but Remus reached forward and grabbed Sirius's chin so he could look at his face. And Sirius's hands came over his head as he stretched and stiffened and continued to ride out the wave.

Remus straddled Sirius and leaned forward to stroke his hair. "Shhh…" he said. "Shhh…"

The moment he came down slightly, Sirius reached out and grabbed Remus and pulled him into a kiss. He was still trembling and twitching but the tears had stopped.

A moment later, Sirius pulled his mouth away and Remus collapsed onto Sirius's chest. They stayed like that for a while. Sirius needed to catch his breath and still calm down and Remus just wanted to be close.

Remus stroked Sirius's arm as they both relaxed. Several minutes later, Sirius cleared his throat. When he spoke, his voice came out in a hoarse whisper.

"Could you get me some water?"

Remus leaned up and looked at Sirius who looked completely exhausted. He nodded and kissed Sirius's temple before he got up to go to the kitchen. When he came back just a minute later, Sirius was completely passed out in their bed, snoring slightly. Remus smiled and put the water on Sirius's end table in case he wanted it in the middle of the night.

Trying hard not to wake Sirius, Remus pulled the covers up so he could cover up Sirius. Right now, Sirius was covered in a light sheen of sweat, but he knew Sirius would get cold in the middle of the night. He always did.

And with completely and utter contentment, Remus curled himself up against Sirius and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Remus woke up with a jolt. He'd had a terrible dream, but he couldn't remember it. And as if the dream had been some kind of trigger, the guilt of Andrew ripped across him. He turned over, trying not to think about it, and found Sirius awake, staring at the canopy above their bed.

Without looking at Remus he said, "That was incredible last night."

Remus smiled and leaned over to kiss Sirius's shoulder. "You enjoyed it? I couldn't tell."

"Remus…" Sirius said, not even smiling. "I can't even…" He looked over at Remus and Remus's resolve seemed to crumble at the look. "You were incredible." Remus just smiled and just as he did last night, Sirius launched into a speech about how much he loved Remus. And the look in his eyes was so loving and sincere and he was bearing his soul to Remus and he had tears in his eyes and Remus couldn't take it.

"Sirius—"

"You're just so perfect and honest and you're an amazing father. I—"

"Sirius—"

"I'd die without you, Remus. I really would. I can't—"

"Sirius, stop! Sirius!" Remus yelled. "Sirius…" he lowered his voice. "Stop."

Sirius frowned. Then he laughed. "I know. I'm being a little crazy. I'm sorry, I just—"

"No, Sirius, I need to tell you something."

Sirius frowned again. "What?"

Remus decided that the best way would be to just say it. "Okay so a little while ago I got a call at your office phone. It was after some morning sex so I thought it was you calling on your way to work. I just… Well, it wasn't you. It was someone else." Remus was talking too fast. "He wanted to talk to you but I just didn't know. And Sirius, I wanted to tell you, but I had coffee with him and it's been going on for a while. I just… I don't know what to do now and I know it's been going on too long, but I had to tell you. And you've been so perfect this whole weekend and I can't let you go on about how much you love me when I've been such a bad husband. I—"

"Remus, stop. Remus," Sirius sat up in bed and held up a hand. "I'm not following. Remus… Did you cheat?"

"What?!" Remus sat up and faced Sirius. "What—no—never—I would never. No."

"Then what? I'm not understanding."

Remus took a deep breath and then sighed. "It was Andrew. On the other line that day. It was Andrew."

Sirius suddenly looked horrified. "What?" he said in a shaking voice. "Remus—"

"He wanted to see you. And I was scared. And jealous. And I… So I told him that if he met with me and I made sure his intentions were good, then I would tell you about it and tell you to contact him—"

"So hold on," Sirius got out of the bed and as he yanked his clothes on, he spoke. "Let me get this straight. You met up with my ex without telling me. And you've been meeting up for how long?"

"Sirius…"

"How long, Remus?" Sirius said, his voice raising.

"Six…" Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Six months," Remus said quietly.

"SIX MONTHS? SIX—" Sirius took a deep breath. "So you've been meeting secretly with my ex for six months to talk about me or whatever. And you were going to decide whether you thought I was mature enough or trustworthy enough to see him—"

"It wasn't like that, Sirius."

"THEN EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT EXACTLY IT WAS LIKE, REMUS!"

"Sirius, please—"

"No, fuck you, Remus. This is _my_ life you and… Andrew… my god…" Sirius turned around and ran a hand down his face. "So you two were just going to decide for me? How cozy." Sirius bent down to pull on his socks and shoes. Remus scrambled to his knees on the bed, his hands out, begging Sirius to stop.

"Sirius, what are you doing?"

"I'm…" he looked at Remus with pure rage on his face. "I'M LEAVING! I CAN'T—" He took a deep breath and lowered his voice. "I can't be around you."

"Sirius…"

"I mean, god dammit, Remus, if you had just told me from the beginning. But… you let this lie go on for SIX MONTHS. It… Dammit Remus IT WASN'T YOUR DECISION TO MAKE."

"I was scared…"

"Well, be sure to let Andrew know about this!" Sirius yelled as he stormed out of the room. Remus flinched when he heard the front door open and slam shut behind Sirius. And when he heard the car start and peel out of the gravel driveway, he knew that he had broken something. And now he was stranded. In more ways than one.

* * *

_Preview for next chapter:_

_"__That should be me in there. I should be your baby's mom. It should be the three of us—not you and her and... _him_. It should be us in there! THAT SHOULD BE ME!"_


	11. Mending

**Chapter 10: Mending**

_Two Years and 8 Months Earlier_

_Sirius was standing next to Remus at a baby shower for one of Sirius's old college friends, bouncing Teddy on his hip. The little girl had finally started to teeth so she was chewing on a little ring, cooing and dripping her saliva on Sirius's shoulder and chest. Although he had a blanket draped over his shoulder, some spare saliva would still escape. Luckily, he was just wearing a dark green polo so he didn't care. He'd learned his lesson a few weeks ago when Teddy had ruined his silk shirt with her saliva. But she was so adorable that he couldn't stay mad at her. Frankly, Sirius had just been lucky that Remus had let Teddy out of the house on either occasion, so he wasn't going to complain about a little spit. _

"_Do you want me to take her?" Remus asked. "She could probably use a change."_

"_No, she's fine. You should—"_

"_Sirius?"_

_Sirius looked over his shoulder and almost felt like he would drop Teddy from the shock. _

"_Pris—Priscilla. Hey. How are you?"_

_Priscilla Prewett—formerly Priscilla Black—Sirius's ex-wife looked up at Sirius through her heavily-lidded eyes. "I'm well," she said with a genuine smile. It had been almost a year and a half since he and Priscilla had called it quits. They had spoken a few times since then and were slowly—_very_ slowly—mending their broken friendship. Sirius was afraid that this encounter was going to set them back several steps. _

"_I thought you were out of the country," Sirius said._

"_I was," Priscilla said. "I just got back a few weeks ago." She looked over Sirius's shoulder. "Remus," she acknowledged. "You look well." _

_Remus smiled nervously. "I am, thanks." _

"_And who is this adorable little girl?" Priscilla said widening her smile and leaning forward to get closer to Teddy. She took her hand, and Teddy—who usually shrunk away from any strangers—immediately reached out and latched onto Priscilla's finger with a wide smile. "You're just the cutest little thing, aren't you?" Priscilla said to Teddy. "Yes you are." _

"_Uh… Pris… meet Teddy. Our daughter." _

_Priscilla looked up at Sirius quickly, the smile slipping off her face. "Your…" She looked completely astonished. "You have a daughter." _

"_Priscilla…" Sirius began to splutter. "I'm s…I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to find out like this." _

"_You have a daughter," Priscilla repeated. _

"_I should've told you sooner. I should've called. I didn't mean to ambush you. I just… I didn't think you'd be here or—" _

_Wordlessly, Priscilla turned and fled. _

"_Shit," Sirius said. He held out Teddy to Remus. "Take her. I… I need to—"_

"_Yeah," Remus said understandingly. "Go." _

"_Priscilla!" Sirius called out as he went after her. "Priscilla wait!" He chased her out until they were on the street. He finally caught up to her—she couldn't move very fast in her stilettos—and grabbed her arm. "Priscilla, please. I'm sorry." _

"_Get off me, Sirius," she said, trying to get away. _

"_Priscilla… I should've told you. I… I didn't think you'd be here," he said to her retreating form. "Priscilla, you shouldn't have found out like that. I'm sorry."_

"_You've humiliated me!" Priscilla screamed, whipping around to face him. Slightly stunned, Sirius didn't say anything. "You thought it was appropriate to parade your baby and your gay husband for all of our old friends to see. You didn't think for one second about how that would make me LOOK!" _

"_Priscilla—"_

"_No!" Priscilla yelled. Then she stepped up to him, dangerously close, and put a finger in his face. "That should be me in there. I should be your baby's mom. It should be the three of us—not you and her and _him_. It should be us in there! THAT SHOULD BE ME!"_

_Sirius was speechless. What could he say? _

"_I hate you, Sirius. I never want to see you again. If you ever show your face near me again…" Her voice was dangerously low. "I'll kill you." Then she turned and ran._

"_Priscilla! Priscilla wait! PRISCILLA!"_

"_Oh, Sirius," Priscilla's voice interrupted Sirius's thoughts. "Congratulations." She smiled and looked at Teddy. "She's beautiful."_

"_Con—? You're congratulating me. Us." It had all been in his head. Priscilla was still standing here. They were still all at the party together. And Priscilla was smiling. _

_Priscilla laughed lightly. "Of course," she said. "You have a beautiful family. I'm happy for you." _

"_Thanks…" Sirius said slowly, unsure of what was happening. He had fully expected Priscilla to lose her mind. _

"_Can I…" Priscilla held out her arms toward Teddy. _

_Remus looked nervous but when Sirius looked back at him, he nodded, and Sirius held Teddy out to Priscilla. The moment Priscilla took Teddy in her arms, her eyes welled up with tears. Teddy was smiling at Priscilla and holding onto her long, black hair, making Priscilla laugh through her tears. Teddy then grabbed the pendant that was hanging around Priscilla's neck so that she had a fistful of her hair in one hand and her necklace in the other. Priscilla was smiling and crying, brushing Teddy's black hair off her forehead. And then a moment later, Teddy looked up at Priscilla, reached forward, and Priscilla gasped as Teddy wiped away one of the tears that had fallen. Priscilla looked at Sirius and Remus who were just watching Priscilla and Teddy, transfixed._

"_She loves you already," Sirius said with a grin._

_Priscilla smiled at Sirius and Remus and let out a small sob before she handed Teddy back to Sirius. "I should go," she said quickly. And before anyone could say anything, she walked away quickly. Sirius handed Teddy to Remus wordlessly and Remus nodded, encouraging Sirius to go after Priscilla and talk to her. It couldn't have been easy for her, and yet she had been so good with Teddy. Sirius wanted to thank her. _

"_Priscilla," he said when he found her in the coatroom, putting on her coat and crying quietly. _

"_Sirius," Priscilla said with her back to him. "Congratulations again," she said before grabbing her purse and turning to leave, without looking at him. _

"_Pris, wait," Sirius said, grabbing her arm. _

_Priscilla turned but kept her head down. Sirius reached forward and put a hand under her chin to get her to look up at him. Her eyes were red, but she smiled. _

"_I just wanted to say I know that can't have been easy for you. But you…" Sirius smiled. "You were awesome in there."_

"_You sound surprised," Priscilla said with a small laugh. Sirius opened his mouth and closed it several times but didn't respond. "I would be surprised if I were you, too." She shrugged. "But I am happy for you. I've… I've had to work through a lot of things, but I came to terms with you and me a long time ago. So…" she sighed. "Sirius, the reason I'm crying is because…" she sighed again and paused for a long time. "Sirius, you're the best friend I've ever had. The thought…" she started to cry again. "The thought that I stopped you from being happy for so long…" she put a hand to her chest. "It breaks my heart." _

"_Priscilla," Sirius stepped forward. "Priscilla, stop." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug. They stayed like that for a minute, Priscilla crying against Sirius's chest and him holding onto her. After a bit, Sirius pulled away. "Priscilla, you didn't stop me," he said, his hands on her shoulders. "I stopped myself. I was a coward. What I did wasn't fair… to anyone." He paused. "It wasn't your fault." There was another long pause and Sirius pulled Priscilla in for another hug. After several moments, Priscilla spoke softly against Sirius's chest. It was muffled, but her words were unmistakable. _

"_I miss you, Sirius," she said quietly. "As a friend… my best friend… I miss you." _

_Sirius pulled away and looked down at her and smiled. "Back at you."_

* * *

Sirius shut off his alarm and groaned as he rolled over in bed. He rolled onto his back, rubbed his eyes hard, and stared up at the ceiling for several moments. Then he rolled out of bed and padded over to the window. He threw open the curtains and squinted against the bright sun streaming in. He then walked over to his little hotplate, took the tea kettle off of it and walked over the sink in the bathroom to fill it up with water. He waited for the water to heat up before he poured it into his "World's Greatest Dad" mug and steeped a tea bag into it as he gazed out the window at the New York City skyline.

It was his fourth morning waking up in this hotel room. He was stubbornly ignoring all of Remus's calls, texts, emails, and facebook messages. He went home in the afternoons when he knew Remus wouldn't be home so he could see Teddy, and when the little girl asked why he was never home in the morning or at night, he always just told her that he was tired and he went to bed before she got home and woke up before she woke up. She seemed to accept that but he didn't know how long she would. She was too smart for her own good.

He couldn't really put into words why he was so angry with Remus. A part of it was the shock that Andrew had sought Sirius out at all. It had been… almost a decade since Sirius had seen him. Why now? The other part was the secrecy of it all. If it was that easy for Remus to keep a secret like that from Sirius for six months, there was no telling what else the man was capable of. But the biggest anger for Sirius was the fact that this all happened because Remus didn't trust him. To Sirius, this all meant that Remus didn't trust Sirius enough to be alone with Andrew or to even see him again. It was astounding to Sirius that after all he had done with and for Remus, that Remus still didn't seem to fully trust him. And as a result of his lack of trust and faith in Sirius, Remus had done the most untrustworthy thing anyone had done to him since Priscilla had lied to him about her pregnancy. He could hardly stomach it.

He tried to focus on other things. After going into the office on Monday, he hadn't gone back or spoken to James. All he'd gotten was a serious lecture from him about getting over himself and talking to Remus about everything. Sirius had nothing to say. There was nothing to say to make up for the lack of trust that Remus had in him.

A while later, Sirius was toweling off his head and looking through his suitcase for clothes for the day when he heard his phone ding. He looked down at it and saw a message from Remus. With a sigh, Sirius leaned forward to grab the phone and open the message.

_Please come home. I need to explain. I'm sorry._

Sirius stared at the message for a long time—his resolve nearly breaking—before he grunted and threw the phone onto his hotel bed. He knew he was just avoiding his problems like he always did, like Priscilla had always complained about, but he needed to time to think and cool off. He just needed time.

The morning passed slowly for Sirius. He dragged himself to class and was able to teach with the same enthusiasm, much to his own shock. But as soon as he got to his office, it was like the effort in class of pretending he didn't have a care in the world except about white collar crime had drained him of all of his energy, and he collapsed into his desk chair, exhausted. A few minutes later, his intercom rang and Gretchen beeped in.

"Professor, Ms. Prewett is here."

"Send her in," Sirius replied. Since school had started, he and Priscilla had arranged to have lunch once a week at NYU. She was so grateful to have him back in the city that she had insisted that they have weekly lunch dates. He had told her how busy he was, but she had insisted and even said that they could do lunch on campus if that would mean she could just see him for an hour. At first he'd been annoyed, thinking that he needed that hour to himself with everything he always had going on, but now he looked forward to their lunch dates every week. Today was Wednesday. And like clockwork, Priscilla was there at 12:30.

"Hi, honey," she said when she came in. He stood up to greet her and leaned over the desk to kiss her on the cheek before she sat down. When she sat down, she pulled the paper bag that she'd brought onto her lap. "Sushi this week," Priscilla said, placing the rolls out on his desk.

Sirius felt his stomach growl in anticipation. He hadn't eaten properly in the past five days.

"So how are Teddy and Remus?" Priscilla asked.

And as if someone had been chipping away at the foundation for four days, the dam finally broke, and Sirius spilled his guts to Priscilla about what had happened. She listened intently, eating in between, and when Sirius finished about how he was staying in a hotel, Priscilla held up a hand.

"Okay," she said, silencing him. "Sirius, I've known you since we were born. You have been the only person in my life that I tell every single thing to and trust unequivocally. We were together for a long time. And I feel as if I know everything there is to know about you. I love you. I adore you. You are my oldest and dearest friend. I think you are wonderful. And even after everything we've been through, I still think of you as my greatest ally." She paused and Sirius smiled weakly. "Now, that being said, Sirius Orion Black, you need to get the hell over yourself and go home to your husband."

"Pris—"

"No, Sirius, shush," Priscilla said sternly. "This is what you do—and I say this with love—you bail. Every time things get rough, you can't handle the pressure and you bail. Remember when we broke up and you went off the grid for a week? Remember when I miscarried and—granted you were pissed—but you ran away for weeks? You bail, Sirius. And I know that's your defense mechanism and I know you say you need time to think, but you need to grow up and learn to face your problems head on." Sirius opened his mouth to speak but Priscilla held up a hand to silence him. "I agree that what Remus did was wrong. He should have told you about Andy from the start. But can you blame him? I certainly can't. I felt threatened by Andrew for _years_ after you two broke up. And Remus knows your history. He knows that you cheat—"

"Priscilla—"

"You cheated on me twice, Sirius, so don't deny it. You cheat and Andrew was the first man you ever loved—can you possibly blame Remus for being afraid that you might stray? Of course he needed to know what Andrew's intentions were. Remus has always just had your best interests at heart. That man adores you and would do anything for you. He loves you and he is perfect for you and you are lucky to have him. He was scared and he fucked up. Who cares? Get over it and go home to your husband." Priscilla raised an eyebrow and gave Sirius a stern look. After a moment, he sighed.

"You're right," he said.

"As always," Priscilla said as she went back to her lunch.

Sirius rolled his eyes as he leaned over to his mini-fridge and pulled out a bottle of white wine to pour for Priscilla and a beer for himself. Priscilla looked up at him.

"It's one in the afternoon."

"It's five o'clock somewhere."

* * *

_Three days earlier_

Remus heard a car door slam and the sound of someone walking across the gravel in the driveway of the Highland House. A moment later, he heard his front door open and close and the sound of heels across the hardwood floor. When Lily got into the kitchen and saw Remus, red-eyed and red-nosed over a glass of dark liquor, she sighed.

"Remus Lupin, you are a mess."

Remus laughed and she walked over and sat across from him.

"Honey, what happened?" Lily asked, reaching out to put one of her hands on his.

"I messed up, Lils," he said. "Big time."

"Tell me everything."

A while later, Lily's frown was still increasing by the second as she listened to Remus.

"… And so he left. And I've been calling him nonstop all day and all night but he won't call me back. And… Lily I know I shouldn't have—"

"No, Remus, you shouldn't have."

"I know."

"So, why did you?"

Remus shrugged. "I… I don't know."

"I mean, Remus, _six months_. That's a long time."

"I know."

"Remus, I'm going to ask you something, and I need you to answer me truthfully, okay?" Remus nodded. "Do you trust Sirius?"

"Yes! Yes, I trust him, I do."

"If you trusted him, you would have just let him see Andrew, right?"

Remus stopped and thought. "It's…" he sighed. "It's not that I don't trust Sirius… it's that… I know there are feelings there—feelings that he can't control… I just want…"

"Want what?"

"I want to know that Sirius loves me more than he ever loved Andrew."

"Remus…"

"I know, Lily! I know that's fucked up, but I need that. I need to know that what we have is different and special—"

"He married you, didn't he?" Lily said, anger in her voice. "He married you and he has a child with you, and you're thinking about having another. He loves you, Remus, and you are stupid and blind if you think he has ever loved _anyone_ more than he loves you."

"I know."

"Remus—"

"Lily! I know."

They sat in silence for a long time, each of them thinking about everything that had just been said—Remus wanting to cry and Lily wanting to hit Remus over the head with a blunt object if that was what it took. After a while, Lily finally spoke up.

"Come on, dope," she said to him. "Let me get your stranded ass home."

* * *

_Next chapter:_

_Were you wondering what happened to Severus? I know I was. Also, Sirius gets assigned a new case by his mentor._


	12. When The Lights Go Out

****_A/N: Greetings, all! Thanks for the reviews so far, and I hope you enjoy this next chapter! _

* * *

**Chapter 11: When the Lights Go Out**

_Two Years Earlier_

_It was early on a Tuesday morning. Teddy was still asleep, and Remus and Sirius were sleeping soundly in their bed. There was a little sliver of sunlight peaking in through the curtain and when Remus shifted a bit, the little sliver grazed right over his eye, making him rustle even more. He blinked a few times and turned over to see Sirius still asleep next him, on his stomach, his head turned the other way. _

_They'd fought last night. They'd been fighting a lot lately, and Remus wasn't sure why. Months ago they'd been fighting a lot about Teddy and how Remus was too attached, but the fights about that were rare, if any, now. Remus had gotten a lot better about his over-protectiveness of their little girl—the over-protectiveness that had cast a dark shadow over Sirius and him for a long time. No, the fights were no longer about that; they were just about little things. Stupid things. Last night, the fight had started because Sirius took a longer shower than he normally did. Annoyed, Remus had gone into tirade about how selfish and inconsiderate Sirius was. It was things like that. Remus was over it. He was sick of fighting. He didn't know why they were fighting but he knew he was sick of it._

_Remus turned over and put a hand around Sirius's waist. He then moved closer to him and buried his face into Sirius's neck. Sirius shifted a bit but didn't turn over, so Remus thought he was probably still asleep. Remus inhaled his husband's scent as he snuggled deeper into his neck. With the arm he had wrapped around Sirius, Remus started to make small circles with his hand on Sirius's hipbone. Sirius was only in his boxers so just that thin fabric separated Remus from Sirius's skin. Remus then started kissing Sirius's neck. The kisses were soft—just little brushes against Sirius's neck. _

_Sirius squirmed a bit and rolled back so that he was on his side and Remus was behind him, spooning him. As Remus's kisses moved from Sirius's neck down to his nape and shoulder, his hand moved from Sirius's hip to his thigh. The hand began to roam there—from an innocent spot on the top of Sirius's thigh, to a more suggestive spot on his inner thigh. The hand never moved beyond that, but when it got closer and closer to a more sacred place when it was on his inner thigh, Sirius thrust his hips ever so slightly. _

_Remus scooted back a little bit so he could make more room so he could push Sirius onto his back. For the first time that morning, their eyes met. Remus could see a lot going on in those stormy eyes, but instead of saying anything, he dipped down and placed an open-mouthed kiss on his neck. Sirius sighed and Remus climbed on top of him. Remus's kisses began to trail further south, and when his tongue traced around Sirius's nipple, Sirius growled and thrust himself against Remus. Remus let out a deep groan and continued to tease. _

_After a while, Remus moved down so he could trail kisses down Sirius's stomach. Sirius began to absently rock his hips as Remus kept moving further south until he was he was kissing the inside of Sirius's upper thigh. When Remus's hand "accidentally" brushed against Sirius's boxer-clad erection, Sirius keened a bit and one hand flew to Remus's dark blonde hair. Remus moved his mouth up from Sirius's inner thigh, but he only did so in order to trail kisses right above the waistband of Sirius's boxers. Sirius was trying to force Remus down with his hand in his hair, but the lighter haired man was doing a good job of resisting._

_Just when Remus hooked his fingers on the inside of Sirius's boxers and began to slide them down, Remus's phone rang, and he crawled up the bed a bit to see who was calling. He didn't recognize the number and he got distracted when Sirius put his hands on Remus's ass and pulled him forward so their erections rubbed against each other. Remus groaned._

"_Don't answer," Sirius growled as he propped himself up on one elbow and put his other hand on the back of Remus's neck to yank him down into a kiss. Remus sighed into the other man's mouth as their tongues immediately met. Remus tossed his phone back onto his nightstand and it stopped ringing as Remus moved his mouth to Sirius's neck and began sucking at the spot that Remus knew Sirius liked. "God it's been so long," Sirius breathed. Remus made a noise of agreement right before his phone started to ring again. _

_Remus looked and saw the same unknown number calling. "Sirius, I should…" _

_Sirius sighed in annoyance and dropped back onto his pillow as Remus climbed off of him to answer the call. Remus sat on his knees next to Sirius as he answered. _

"_Hello?… Yes this is him, who's calling?... Okay…" Several seconds passed as Remus listened. "He did?" A very long pause passed as Sirius watched Remus's expression change. "Where is he?" Remus asked the person on the other end. "WHERE IS HE?" Remus yelled. After he got a response, Remus hung up on the man and slammed his phone onto the bed, panting in what appeared to be anger. _

"_Rem…" Sirius said. When Remus didn't respond, Sirius leaned up and touched Remus's arm. "Remus?" Remus's head snapped over to look at Sirius and he stared at him for a long time before he succumbed to his emotions and collapsed into a pile of tears. "Remus!" Sirius scrambled up onto his knees so he could put his arms around Remus as he hunched over and cried. "Remus, what is it? What's wrong? What happened?" Remus only responded by crying harder. "Remus," Sirius said softly as he rubbed Remus's hair. "Talk to me."_

_This time, Remus's response was to shout angrily through his tears and throw Sirius's arms off of him. He tried to climb off the bed, but he was too worked up and he only fell off and into a heap on the floor. _

"_Remus," Sirius said as he climbed off the bed quickly and knelt next to Remus. "Remus, please—"_

"_It's Severus," Remus said as he sobbed in the fetal position next to Sirius where he had fallen. "He's…" Remus looked up at Sirius through red, watery eyes. "He's dead, Sirius."_

* * *

"It was a Tuesday. And it was sunny out… It was so… wrong… that the sun was out when I felt so miserable. But there it was—Mr. Sun shining brighter than he had in months on one of my darkest days." There was a pause. "It was weird, you know… As Sirius was driving me to the morgue all I could think was how you were just… gone. Like, how strange is that? One minute you were in the world, and the next you were out of it and you would never be in it again."

Remus sighed as he looked up into the sky. It was always sunny on this day now. Ever since that day two years ago, it was always sunny on this day. That day it had been sunny, last year when he had come to visit this spot it had been sunny, and today it was sunny. It was always sunny when Remus felt at his worst—like the universe was mocking his misery.

"I always think you died at that time on purpose," Remus said as he looked back down at Severus's headstone. _Beloved Son_ was all it said.

_Severus Snape_

_Beloved Son_

_January 9, 1985-October 8, 2013_

Severus was dead and all he would be remembered as was as "beloved son." Severus's mother had asked Remus if he thought there should be anything else, but he had been too angry at Severus's selfishness in dying that he said beloved son would be enough. Perhaps beloved son was too much for a person who had never been a beloved anything.

It had taken a long time for Remus to forgive Severus for dying. For the first several weeks after his burial, Remus had come once a week (unbeknownst to Sirius) to scold Severus for dying. _"You have always been a selfish prick,"_ Remus had told the headstone once. _"Overdosing. Dying. So fucking typical, you selfish asshole." _It took a long time for him to realize that he was only angry with himself. He was angry that he turned Severus away when Severus tried to make amends, but he had just been too hurt and the memory too fresh. Perhaps he always figured that if he wanted to make amends he could do it when he was 40 and stable. He didn't know he wouldn't have the time.

And on top of that, he blamed himself. Severus had always needed him—needed his support—and when he needed it most, Remus had turned his back. Perhaps Remus would have been able to help Severus recover fully if he'd just been there for him. Yeah. Who was the selfish one again?

It wasn't until not long ago that Remus had finally realized that Severus's death was no one's fault. He had an illness, and he lost his battle with it like so many with severe illnesses did. It took Remus a long time to realize that not only did Severus know that Remus cared for him, but that Remus was justified in his anger and resentment. Severus was dead, yes, but as his shrink had told him, his death didn't change the fact that Severus had been mean and abusive and had dragged Remus down for years. He needed to forgive him, his therapist said, but that didn't mean he had to pretend that Severus was an angel. His shrink told him that the only way for both of them to move on would be for Remus to acknowledge all of his feelings and emotions about Severus. And he did.

"I mean, you would have thought it was hilarious if you'd known you'd interrupted me and Sirius." Remus laughed. "We had gone months without any sex and there you go dying and interrupting it." Remus chuckled again but the smile slipped from his face after a moment. He sighed. "Sirius and I are fighting," Remus said. "I 'made a fuck of it' as you would say." He looked up at the sky again. "It's funny because you were drunk and high most of the time, but when you were sober, you were always so sage. I don't know, I feel like if you were here and sober you would tell me that what I did was stupid… I shouldn't have lied. And I shouldn't have kept the lie going on for so long… I just… I don't know. I'm just in this amazed disbelief when I think about how lucky I am to have Sirius, so I'm afraid of anything that may jeopardize that." Remus paused. "You're right though, in the process of trying not to jeopardize it, I did just that. You're always right." Remus sighed and looked down at Severus's headstone again.

_Beloved Son_

It was mocking him. He always thought that stupid headstone was mocking him.

"I miss you, Sev," Remus said with a small smile. "I know it's weird and fucked up and I shouldn't, but I do… I'll see you around."

And with that, he was gone.

* * *

As Sirius climbed the steps of the New York District Court, he tried to get Remus out of his head. He was going home tonight, that much he had decided, but he needed to focus. He couldn't be thinking about Remus while he was supposed to be meeting with a judge.

Still, his thoughts drifted. He'd been trying all day, but he knew he wouldn't be able to. He knew today was the two year anniversary of Severus's death. He knew that Remus needed him, but Sirius couldn't just walk in the front door like nothing had ever happened and comfort Remus for the loss of his old lover. What a joke. And worse, Sirius was thinking about what he would say tonight. He didn't know how Remus would justify himself, and he didn't know what would be said. He knew Remus would be angry that he left him at the Highland House, but would he say anything? How would he be? Sad, angry, relieved to have his husband home? Sirius had no idea.

But he couldn't think about it. Not right now.

Sirius knocked on the door to the judge's chambers and tried to look like his mind wasn't completely preoccupied as he heard the judge call for him to enter.

"Ah, Sirius! Come in, come in!"

"Hey, Judge Dumbledore," Sirius said with a smile as he walked in and extended his hand to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore shook his head and walked around his desk. "Jesus, Sirius, I think it is about time you started calling me Albus," he said as he embraced Sirius into a tight hug. "Goodness, how long have we known each other?" he said before he pulled away.

"Too long," Sirius said, laughing as he took the seat Dumbledore had gestured for him to take.

Sirius had known Dumbledore since he was a boy. He'd grown up down the street from Dumbledore and his partner, and Dumbledore had been the first person to completely understand Sirius. His father hadn't like Dumbledore because he said he was an "old, senile, hippie judge who had never sided with a corporation once in his old, miserable life." For his part, Sirius had loved and admired Dumbledore from the moment he'd met him. He had always given Sirius the best advice, and he had been a mentor to both him and James when they were young lawyers. Sirius had been a clerk for Dumbledore after his first year in law school, and to this day, Sirius thought that was probably the best summer of his life—other than the summer he met Remus.

Dumbledore had made Sirius feel welcome and safe from the day they'd met. After school, Sirius would sneak over to his house to bake, play piano (which Dumbledore taught him), read with him, or just listen to him and his partner talk. Sirius would look at the two men with awe, especially as he got older and he started to think maybe he wanted a life like Dumbledore's.

So when Sirius had come out to Dumbledore when he was eighteen, Dumbledore had been his shoulder to cry on, his confidant, and his biggest supporter. He had never judged him or scolded him or told him to do anything. He offered simple words of guidance and comfort. Sirius had seen the disappointment in his eyes when he told Dumbledore that he would stay with Priscilla and marry her because she was his best friend and he loved her, but Dumbledore had never once told Sirius to leave Priscilla. Years later, Sirius had asked him why, and Dumbledore had just smiled and said simply, "I knew you would come around."

"How's Gell?" Sirius asked.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Oh, good good. Writing a lot, trying to save the world, you know, the usual."

Sirius smiled. "Sounds like him… And Ariana?"

Dumbledore's smile faded a bit, but he nodded. "She has her good days and bad."

Dumbledore's younger sister suffered from severe manic depression and dissociative identity disorder. When they were younger, Ariana had been kidnapped and tortured for days by a man who was now in prison for life (leading to Dumbledore's desire to practice law), and ever since, she had developed multiple personalities to protect her and help her cope with what she had experienced. She was much older now, and Dumbledore and his brother, Abe, had put her in a home, but the two men still visited her almost every day.

"I saw James the other day," Dumbledore said. "He brought Harry by."

"Yeah?"

"A good, strong boy, little Harry. Very smart, too. I'm sure he'll do great things some day."

Sirius nodded. "Yeah. That kid's the best."

Dumbledore smiled and leaned back in his chair, folding his hands in front of him. "And your family? Teddy and Remus?"

Sirius tried not to let what he was really feeling show through, but he knew it would be no use. Dumbledore had always been able to read him like a book. "They're good. Great. Teddy is—"

"What happened?" Dumbledore interrupted. "Something changed in your eyes when I mentioned them."

Sirius shook his head. "Remus and I had a fight. It's nothing."

"It's not nothing," Dumbledore said. "But I can see you don't want to talk about it so I won't dwell on it." Sirius nodded, appreciative.

Then Sirius smiled. "So what did you summon me all the way to the Bronx for?"

"'All the way to the Bronx?'" Dumbledore repeated. "There used to be a time when I had to beg you to leave the Bronx."

Sirius laughed. "True."

Dumbledore sighed. "Well, the truth is, I need your help, Sirius."

"Anything," Sirius said.

"You might not be saying that once I tell you." Sirius frowned and Dumbledore went on. "I've got a kid that I want you to meet."

"Oh?"

"The prosecutor is trying to charge him for murder."

"How old?"

"Eight."

"Eight!" Sirius said, completely shocked. "What is Moody trying to prove by charging an eight-year-old kid for murder?"

"Al believes in justice. He thinks what he's doing is right."

"What happened?" Sirius asked.

"Well, I've known this kid for a while. His name is Neville Longbottom. He's got a little sister, Alice, named for their mother. She's four… Neville and Alice's parents were killed a few years ago. The family was in a bad way. The parents were dealing drugs to try to make ends meet and they were also users. Neville and Alice used to be in the same room with them while their parents would shoot up. They were in and out of the system for a long time before a rival dealer killed their parents. Then they were both in it permanently.

"I mean, the boy has been looking out for his sister since she was born. They were once found hiding in their basement. He'd hidden her down there while their parents were on a bad binge, and he would go up to check on his parents to make sure they were alive, and he would bring Alice food down… Finally, Neville called 911 when his parents had passed out and hadn't woken up for a day." Dumbledore shook his head. "This poor boy has seen and been through so much, but all he has ever cared about is protecting his sister… He's being charged with the murder of his foster father." Dumbledore paused. "Now, I don't know if there's any truth to what I'm about to say, and if you tell anyone I told you this, I'll just deny it… But Neville has only _ever _cared about protecting his sister. He killed that man, there's no doubt… but there has to be a good reason, and it has to do with his sister."

Sirius sighed. "So what do you need from me? A brief or something?"

"I want you to represent Neville."

"Albus…"

"I know you're busy Sirius. I know you're a professor now—congratulations, by the way—and I know you're still working hard at your firm, and I _know_ you have a family to worry about, but you're the only person I can trust with this."

"You're the judge on the case?"

"Yes, and that's why you can't tell anyone what I said." He paused. "Sirius, you're the best lawyer in this city—"

"Not true."

"I'm not going to argue with you about that. You are. And you're the only one I can trust to do right by this boy," Dumbledore said sincerely. "I can't just assign him some overworked and underpaid PD. I need you, Sirius… He needs you."

Sirius sighed. He knew he would kick himself later for adding yet another thing to his plate, but Dumbledore was right. He remembered what Slughorn had told him about the Riddle case being the most important case of his life. He remembered what Slughorn had said about how he had saved millions of lives, and remembering that, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had a responsibility to this kid.

"Okay," Sirius said. "I'll do it."

"I knew I could count on you," Dumbledore said with a smile. Then, "Do you want to meet him?"

"Who?"

"Neville, of course. And his sister?"

"They're here?"

"Well, I thought I might have to guilt you into it…" Dumbledore said, without shame.

Sirius just shook his head. "Sure, I'll meet them."

Dumbledore smiled and pressed his intercom button on his phone. "Tandy, bring in the kids, please."

Sirius held his breath as the side door to Dumbledore's chambers opened and two small, clearly underfed and underdeveloped children walked in behind Dumbledore's clerk. The boy walked in with his head held high, but the girl was clutching to her brother for dear life, a little snot running out of her nose.

Dumbledore stood up. "Neville, this is Sirius."

"Hi, Neville," Sirius said, reaching out his hand.

"He's going to help you," Dumbledore said.

Neville eyed Sirius suspiciously for several moments before he reached out and shook Sirius's hand.

"Alice, this is Sirius," Dumbledore said. Sirius liked that Dumbledore talked to children like they were equals. It was what Sirius had always liked about Dumbledore—they had always felt like equals.

"It's okay, Allie," Neville said as he bent his head to talk to his sister. "This man is going to help us."

Years later, Sirius would look back at this moment as the defining moment in his case for Neville Longbottom. As he watched Neville whisper words of support and encouragement to his sister, wiping her nose and telling her everything would be okay and that he would be right there; as he looked into the scared eyes of a boy who was trying to be strong for the most important person in his life; as he saw an eight-year-old boy who had the weariness in his eyes of a man who had lived a thousand years… as he saw all of that, that was the moment that Sirius fell in love with Neville and Alice Longbottom.

* * *

_Preview for next chapter:_

_"Do you know how it feels to know that your husband is a cheater?" _


	13. We'll Be Alright

****_A/N: Hey all! As always, I thank each of you for all your feedback. Though I seem to have generated some enemies... I just want to say that while I appreciate all reviews both positive and negative, it is insanely unhelpful to post a mean and hateful review. I understand if you don't like me or my writing but just don't say anything offensive or it WILL be both reported and deleted. Just be careful of the words you use, especially in regards to Sirius and Remus's intimate relationship. I won't tolerate name calling if you don't like the positions that Sirius and Remus choose. _

_That being said, I understand that my writing and my stories aren't for everyone, but I genuinely want to know what I can do to improve, so if you don't like something, just tell me why, and if possible, offer suggestions to change it. _

_Anyway, I think this story might be coming to a close relatively soon. I would say probably 3 or 4 more chapters. I hope you enjoy this next chapter!_

* * *

**Chapter 12: We'll Be Alright**

"Daddy's home!"

Remus looked up from the book he was reading on the couch and saw Sirius's lean, yet muscular, frame leaning against the entryway to the family room. The breath caught in his throat as Sirius moved to walk over to Teddy and scoop her in his arms.

"Hi, baby," he said before he squeezed her tightly. Her wet hair pressed against his cheek and he chuckled as she pulled away and looked at him to size him up.

"Daddy said you were asleep already," she said. "But you're wearing your go-to-work clothes."

"I was taking a nap," Sirius said without hesitation. "But it looks like you're all ready to go to bed," he said, changing the subject.

"Do I have to?"

Sirius nodded. And without a word or a look at Remus, he walked out of the room, Teddy in his arms, babbling about her day the whole way.

As soon as Sirius left the room, Remus let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. His heart felt like it would jump out of his chest and his stomach was twisting in knots. He swallowed hard before he put his book down on the coffee table and slowly stood up. He took his time in the family room, shutting off each light and tidying up Teddy's toys and other things that were scattered around. He then walked slowly to the stairwell and stood at the foot of it for a moment before he began his ascent. He didn't know what was about to happen; all he knew was that he was terrified.

As he walked up the stairs, he could hear the faint sound of Sirius's voice reading to Teddy softly. When Remus got to the top, he stood outside the door, leaning against the wall next to it, listening. And even though he was scared out of his mind, the sound of his voice trailing out of the room was the greatest sound he had heard in days. With a heavy sigh, Remus padded to his and Sirius's bedroom. He brushed his teeth absently, and then walked like it was his last day on earth to their bed. He sat down on top of the covers, crossed his legs, and stared at the door, just waiting.

After several more minutes, Remus's heart leapt as he saw the light go out in the hallway, meaning that Sirius was approaching. For a moment, Remus's stomach was going so berserk that he thought he might be sick. But he just swallowed hard and tried to steady his breathing.

When Sirius came into the room and saw Remus just sitting there, he looked a bit startled, but that look was quickly replaced with the smallest of side smiles.

"Hi."

"Hey."

* * *

Lily was sitting on the sofa in their living room with a pair of head phones around her stomach as she knitted, while Harry was laying on his stomach in front of the TV, coloring in a superhero coloring book. The TV was on quietly in the background, playing an old episode of an old TV show that her mother used to watch.

James walked out of the kitchen and stood in the entryway of the living room, watching his pregnant wife and son. He smiled. Then, he walked around the sofa and plopped down next to Lily. She looked over at him and smiled before she leaned over to give him a soft kiss. He leaned in to meet her and accepted the kiss happily. Then he noticed the headphones around her five-month-along stomach.

"Mozart?" James said, nodding toward her stomach.

"Oh, no, an old Mets game," Lily said. James raised his eyebrows. "What?" Lily asked. "I want our child to know that he or she loves the Mets from day one." James just laughed and shook his head.

"And what if I want him or her to like the Yankees?"

Lily gave him a stern look and James laughed again and put his hands up in a show of surrender. "Okay okay, Mets it is." Lily leaned over to kiss him again with a contented smile on her face.

"Are you excited for tomorrow?" Lily asked him, looking back at her knitting.

"What's tomorrow?"

Lily gave him a stern look again, and again, James laughed. He put a hand on her knee and scooted closer.

"Of course I'm excited to find out if we've got a little John or a little Rose." He then looked over at Harry. "Harry James, do you want a sister or a brother."

"Both please," Harry said without looking up from his coloring book.

"That's my boy!" James said happily as Lily just shook her head. James looked at Lily. "Have you talked to Remus or Sirius lately?"

Lily looked suddenly very sad. "I talked to Remus earlier, but I haven't talked to Sirius since he called to tell me Remus was stranded. Have you talked to either of them?"

"Sirius won't talk to me," James said, looking equally sad. "He hasn't come into the office all week. But the judge called me earlier and said he'd assigned Sirius a case."

"Dumbledore?"

"Yeah."

"He didn't say anything else?"

"Not really," James sighed. "I asked if Sirius had mentioned anything, and he said Sirius seemed like he didn't want to talk about anything. Lily…" James said seriously. She looked up at him. "You don't think they'll break up or anything over this do you?"

Lily shook her head. "No. They love each other too much. That's why they get so upset about stuff like this."

"Do you…?" James started but seemed to think better of it.

"What?" She regarded him.

"Do you think Remus doesn't trust Sirius?"

"I'm not sure…" Lily said slowly. "Do you think he has reason not to?"

James thought for a moment. "You know, I've known Sirius my whole life. I saw him with Priscilla, I saw him with Andrew, and I see him with Remus… And I can say without question or doubt that Sirius loves Remus more than he has ever loved anyone or anything. He worships him. And maybe he's not the type to show it enough, but Remus has to know. And you know, Sirius gets what he wants. If he wanted Andrew, he would have had him. He got Remus, and he's never going to let go."

"You love him so much," Lily said with a smile.

"Yeah, I do… I just want him to be happy," James said with a shrug. "That's all I've ever wanted for him."

There was a short pause before Lily said, "God, I'm so in love with you."

James looked at her and grinned. "Oh, is that so?" She nodded and he leaned in to kiss her.

Lily looked down at her stomach. "What do you think it is? A girl or a boy?"

James shrugged. "I don't know and I don't care. As long as it's ours, it doesn't matter to me."

Lily looked at him and shook her head. "Do you always say the right thing?"

James grinned smugly. "Yes," he said simply as he once again leaned for a kiss.

* * *

Sirius walked over to the antique chair sitting in the corner of the room and sat down slowly. Remus's back was now to Sirius, but he didn't turn. He blinked slowly when Sirius spoke.

"How've you been?" Sirius asked quietly.

"Fine," Remus said after a pause. "Considering."

Sirius nodded, but Remus didn't see.

"You?" Remus asked.

"All right," Sirius said. Then added, "Considering."

Remus smiled, but Sirius didn't see.

There was a long silence. Remus could hear Sirius grinding his teeth—something he did when he was nervous or agitated. Remus sighed.

"I shouldn't have kept it from you," Remus said quietly.

"No," Sirius said in agreement.

"And I shouldn't have kept it from you as long as I did."

"No," Sirius said again.

"I didn't…" Remus paused. "I don't know what I can say other than I'm sorry."

Sirius sighed, "Remus look at me."

Remus just shook his head in response. He could feel tears stinging his eyes—frustrated, emotional tears. The kind of tears that sprung up when you were feeling too many things and your body had to find any way to expel the emotions physically. He wasn't ready to face Sirius yet. Not when his emotions were threatening to spill over at any moment.

"Then just…" Sirius sighed again. "Just tell me why, I guess."

Remus looked down at his hands in his lap and thought for several moments, trying to find exactly the right words.

"Fear," Remus finally said. "All it was was fear and cowardice," he said. "I was scared of what might happen if you two met up."

"Why?"

"Oh, Sirius, don't act dense," Remus said sharply. "You loved him. He loved you."

"Remus—"

Remus wasn't ready to say everything yet, so instead, he deflected. "You shouldn't have left."

"What?"

"This weekend in the Highlands," Remus said. He could feel his blood pressure rising. He could feel all the anger, fear, and sadness he'd felt over the past week bubble to the surface. "You shouldn't have left me there."

"I know—"

"Do you?" Remus whipped around and finally faced Sirius. "You always do that, Sirius," he said angrily. "Every time things get too hard or too overwhelming, you just leave! And you can't…" Remus sighed angrily and adjusted his body so that he was facing Sirius head on. "We have a daughter now. We have a life and we're married. When things get too hard, you can't just bail. It's irresponsible and it's immature—"

"Immature?" Sirius said. Where his face had been softer and more understanding a moment earlier, it was now hard and marred with disbelief. "You call me immature when you met in secret with my ex because you're so insecure that you were afraid of a few fucks we had ten years ago?"

The words stung, and Remus's mouth opened and closed a few times, unable to respond.

"That's what I thought," Sirius said.

"Fuck you, Sirius."

"No, fuck _you_, Remus," Sirius retorted snappishly. "You have so little respect for me and trust in me and our relationship that you kept a secret like this from me for six months." Sirius stood up from his chair and moved to the window to look out. "Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?" Sirius said quietly and sharply.

Remus knew he had been wrong, but he couldn't help but defend himself. "Do you have any idea how it feels when your husband abandons you because he can't face your problems?"

Sirius scoffed. "Problems that you created by fabricating some stupid old relationship in your head that you thought would suddenly be—what—rekindled the moment Andrew and I laid eyes on each other?" Sirius turned to face Remus. "Christ, Remus, do you know what it feels like to know that your husband has absolutely no trust in you? Don't you get that?"

"Do you know how it feels to know that your husband is a _cheater_?"

As soon as the words were out, Remus regretted them.

"Excuse me?" Sirius breathed, horrified.

"That's not—I—"

"I am _not_ a cheater," Sirius started, his voice dangerously low. "I can't believe you think that." For a moment, Remus thought Sirius looked like he might cry, but his look of shocked sadness changed to one of pure rage. "I was suppressing my sexuality! I was trying to force myself to be straight for a woman that I loved, so, please, Remus, _forgive me_ for that. And for you information, if it weren't for your husband being a _cheater_, he would have never been your husband in the first place!"

"Sirius, I'm sorry, that's—"

"That's what, Remus? Not what you meant? Because it sure seems like you've been saving that one for a rainy day."

"I haven't—"

"Fuck off," Sirius said before turning and walking briskly for their bedroom door so he could escape. Suddenly, he felt like he couldn't breathe.

"Oh, of course, Sirius!" Remus called as he walked by. "Leave! It's what you always do when there's a problem. So, go ahead!"

* * *

Peter Pettigrew walked up behind Priscilla Prewett and placed a soft kiss on the back of her neck. Priscilla shivered involuntarily and turned around to capture Peter's lips with her own.

She had been flipping through bridal catalogs, circling and doggy-earing everything she found that looked interesting. They had finally set a date for the wedding, which would be the following summer, and although it was only eight months away, Priscilla felt none of the pressure and chaos that she felt the first time around. This time there wasn't all of New York high society to impress and there wasn't the exhaustion of feigning to everyone how much she and her gay husband were in love. No this time, things were simple. It was her and it was Peter and it was perfect.

"What are you up to?" Peter asked as he leaned against her desk and faced her. She had sold the house that she and Sirius had lived in so she could get a fresh start. But she had kept his old mahogany desk. She had always loved it, and it was the one thing she couldn't let go.

"Wedding stuff," Priscilla said, closing the magazine and leaning back in her chair to look up at Peter. "How was your day?" He had just come in and he still had dirt in his fingernails and a ruddy look about him. He always came to see her right when he got off before he showered because he knew how hot she thought he looked when he was still so dirty.

"Oh, it was fine," he said. "The usual. Getting yelled at by bitchy housewives."

Priscilla blushed and laughed. He always made that joke, but she always got a little embarrassed every time. To make up for it, he leaned down and kissed her softly.

"I love you," he said against her mouth with a smile. She pulled away and smiled sheepishly at him. "Hey," he changed the subject. "Do you know what's going on with Remus and Sirius?"

Priscilla sighed. "Yes."

"I could just tell something was up because Remus was in a really bad mood today at work and he has been for about a week. So…"

"Yeah… so… about ten years ago, Sirius cheated on me with this guy named Andrew. Then all of the sudden, Andrew wants to see him out of the blue a few months ago. So Remus decided to vet him…" She paused. "Which I frankly don't blame him for because I know how it used to be, and I know how that can drive a person crazy, and I know how much Sirius loved Andrew, even if neither of us wanted to admit it then…" She sighed. "But anyway, Sirius got pissed because Remus kept it a secret for six months while he met with Andrew, and when Sirius found out, he ditched Remus at their upstate house and they haven't talked in a week."

"Wow…" Peter said slowly after a moment.

Priscilla chuckled. "Yeah, well, that's the cliffnotes version."

"So, now what?"

"Well, Sirius called me and told me he was going home tonight, so hopefully they'll talk things out… I mean, it will be fine. The man gave up his life for Remus. He's not just going to end it over one silly misjudgment on Remus's part." Priscilla then stood up in her chair and walked so she was standing in between Peter's legs. "Enough about them," she said as she leaned in and kissed his neck. "What do you say we get you out of these dirty clothes."

"Yeah?" Peter breathed, bringing his arms around her and pulling her close by her ass.

"Mhmm," she said as she trailed her face up to kiss his jaw. "I think a nice, hot shower is in order."

"I think you're right."

* * *

Sirius halted in the doorway of their bedroom, his hand on the doorknob. There was a long silence before either of them spoke.

"The reason that I cheated was because I was lying to myself about who I was and I needed an outlet," Sirius said quietly, his back to Remus.

"I know."

"I loved Priscilla, and if I had been straight, I would have _never_ cheated on her."

"I know."

"I tried my fucking hardest not to be gay. I tried to love Priscilla and I tried not to cheat, but I couldn't help it. I had to. I…"

"Sirius, I know, I shouldn't have said that."

"Now that I'm with a man—with someone I can love _fully_—I have no reason to cheat. The reason for cheating is gone. You can't…" Sirius turned to look at Remus. "You don't really think I'm a cheater, do you?"

"Of course not."

"I struggled, Remus. Every day was a struggle to force myself to be someone I wasn't, until…"

"Until Andrew," Remus finished. Sirius didn't say anything. "That's why I was afraid, Sirius. You…" he paused and sighed. "You and Andrew share this deep connection that I'll never understand. He was your first love, and—"

"Priscilla was my first love."

Remus opened his mouth and closed it before he responded. "You know what I mean, Sirius. You and Andrew will be connected forever because he was the first person to make you realize what you truly wanted—who you truly were. How was I possibly supposed to compete with that? With the one that got away?"

"Is that—?"

"I mean, I read that letter he wrote you. A bond like that—"

"Is that what you think?" Sirius interrupted. "That Andrew was the one that got away?"

Remus shrugged. Sirius laughed humorlessly and leaned against the door as he ran a hand down his face and looked at the ceiling.

"Sirius—"

"Andy is not the one that got away," Sirius said, looking down at Remus. "Maybe he was the one that got away ten years ago, but once I met you…" Sirius took a step forward and put his hands out urgently. "Don't you get it, Remus?" Sirius said with a tilt of his head. "I was scared and cowardly—too scared to leave Priscilla for Andy, but the thing is… Remus, if I had loved him enough—if I had loved him the way I love you—I would have left." Remus looked confused so Sirius shook his head and went on, taking a few more steps forward so he was just a foot from the side of the bed. "Remus, I wasn't willing to change for Andrew because I didn't love him enough. But you… I couldn't live without you."

Remus felt like all the breath had gone from him.

"When I met you, I knew I had to leave Priscilla because I couldn't possibly imagine my life without you. With Andrew, it was hard, but I could envision myself without him and only with Pris." Sirius moved forward so that he could sit on the bed across from Remus. "Remus… God, don't you understand that I've never loved anyone the way I love you? That I was willing to give up my whole life to be with you?" Sirius said exasperatedly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You talk about this connection that Andrew and I share, but it's nothing like the connection I have with you… We're married, we have a daughter, and I loved you so much that I changed _everything_ for you—something I wasn't willing to do for Andrew. Something I couldn't do until I found that person that I couldn't imagine being without. That's you, idiot."

Remus laughed a bit a wiped the tears that had begun to fall. "Well when you put it like that—"

Remus was cut off when Sirius pressed his mouth to Remus's. Remus whimpered and reached forward to grip Sirius's hips desperately. He fisted his hands into Sirius's shirt at his sides and pulled him so that Sirius moved and straddled Remus. Sirius's hands came up to the sides of Remus's face and tipped Remus's head back so he could deepen the kiss.

"I'm sorry," Remus gasped out as Sirius's mouth moved to his jawline.

"Just shut up," Sirius said as he pinned Remus to the bed. He was tired of talking.

* * *

Andrew tossed his head back as he swallowed some pills, and then he set the glass of water on the counter in front of him. His apartment was dark and quiet; the only sound the ticking of the large grandfather clock in his living room. He stood at the island in the middle of his kitchen for several moments, staring absently at a spot on the wall. He took a few more sips of water as he stood there, and when he finished the glass, he placed it in his empty sink. When he had been with Sirius, Sirius would always do the dishes in his sink, calling Andrew and his roommates animals for leaving dishes out that long. Finally, Andrew had started doing the dishes before Sirius would come over, hoping that he would like it. It was a habit that stuck.

Andrew walked through his dark apartment and into his living room. He sat on the couch and faced the blank screen of the television for a few minutes before he finally decided to turn it on and watch something. When he flipped it on, a popular satirical news show was on, so he decided to watch it. He wasn't paying much attention, anyway. In fact, his mind had been elsewhere for what seemed like forever. Weeks. Months. Maybe even years.

There were days when he enjoyed the solitude. His long time boyfriend had broken up with him about a year ago, and that was when Andrew had decided to contact Sirius. Not because he wanted Sirius back, but because he was just curious. A few of his college friends had called him to tell him that Sirius had divorced Priscilla Prewett and married a man, and since then, Andrew had had a hidden obsession with finding out all he could about Sirius. He would read the _Times_ cover to cover, hoping that he would find any clue as to what Sirius was doing, and a lot of the time, he would find Sirius's name. In an interview about a case or a remark about something law-related, but it was never enough to satisfy Andrew's curiosity. He was always left wanting to know more.

So one day, out of the blue, he called. It had been one of those things where he would pick up the phone and dial five numbers and hang up ten times a day, but then one day, he dialed quickly and this time, he just let it ring. When he'd heard the voice on the other end, his heart had leapt into his throat and he'd barely been able to form words. And when Remus had said he was Sirius's husband, it was like a very thin wall of glass that had been standing in front of Andrew's sanity had been pushed over by Remus's pinky and shattered into a million pieces. He had believed his friends when they said Sirius had married a man, but it wasn't until he actually heard the proof that his mind was able to fully grasp it.

It wasn't that Andrew wanted Sirius back. He'd moved on from Sirius years ago. But he needed the closure that he had never really gotten. He needed to see Sirius for himself and hear his voice and know that Sirius existed in the world and he was happy. He just needed that small closure.

When Andrew had his darkest days, he would decide that he wasn't playing Remus's game anymore and he would just call Sirius. But after he could pick up his phone, he would slam it back down. He wanted Remus to trust him. He wanted Sirius to trust him. He wanted both of them to know that his intentions were good and that he only wanted the best for Sirius. But it was on those dark days when he expected something. But what was it that he expected? Deep down, he knew what he expected. He wanted Sirius to thank him. He wanted Remus to thank him. Hell, if it weren't for Andrew putting his neck out for Sirius and practically forcing himself on him, nothing would have ever happened between Sirius and Remus. He wanted the credit that was due to him for what he did for the happily married couple. He wanted Sirius to remember the beginning, like Andrew did.

_Andrew took a deep breath. He was sitting next to Sirius on his couch in his apartment. His roommates were gone. It was the third night in a row this week that Sirius was over under the guise that they were having a "movie marathon" of old gangster movies. That was how he convinced Priscilla not to come. _

_Andrew knew all about Priscilla. He knew that Sirius was engaged to his long-time girlfriend and that their wedding date was set for the summer of the following year—the summer after graduation. He knew they had been together practically since they were babies and he knew that Sirius loved her. He also knew that Sirius's eyes lingered for a little too long when they worked out together. And he knew that Sirius always sat closer to him than any normal male friend would. He knew that every so often, Sirius would look over at Andrew, but Andrew would act like he didn't notice. He knew that Sirius had been doing that for weeks. He knew Sirius wanted to kiss him because he saw Sirius's cheeks heat up every time Andrew would bite or lick his lower lip. At first, Andrew hadn't been doing it on purpose, but when he realized how much it entranced Sirius, he would do it as often as he could without being noticeable. _

_Knowing all of this, Andrew knew that he had finally built up his courage and knowledge enough to do what he was about to do. But when he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on the side of Sirius's neck, Sirius leapt off the couch faster than Andrew would have thought possible. _

"_What are you doing?" Sirius asked, touching his neck with a look on his face of mingled fear, anger, and confusion. _

_Andrew stood up and walked over to Sirius who was trying to back away. Andrew tried to reach out and grab Sirius's hand, but Sirius was quick._

"_Stop," he said, yanking his hand back and shoving Andrew back hard. Andrew stumbled a bit but quickly regained his balance. "What are you doing?" he asked again, his voice much louder this time. _

_Andrew didn't say anything, but instead maneuvered the two of them so that he would back Sirius into a corner. They ended up in the corner of the room right behind the couch, and Andrew did not hesitate before launching himself onto Sirius. _

"_Andy…" Sirius tried to protest as Andrew latched his mouth onto Sirius's neck. But the way he gasped out his name made the protest somewhat half-hearted. "Stop." _

"_I know you want this, Sirius," Andrew said against Sirius's neck._

"_No…" Sirius's breath was becoming labored. "I'm… I'm engaged. I'm not… I'm not gay." Sirius tried to squirm against Andrew but all it did was increase the friction between them, making them both hotter. _

"_You want me, Sirius," Andrew said before sucking at a sensitive part of Sirius's neck. Sirius whimpered and Andrew pulled away to look at Sirius. They looked at each other for a moment before Andrew leaned back in and kissed along Sirius's jawline. Sirius was now breathing heavily and Andrew could feel him pressing hard against his leg. Then, without another word of protest, Andrew moved his mouth up and pressed his open mouth against Sirius's. _

_Sirius grunted as their open mouths pressed against each other, hot and wet and wanting. The way Sirius attacked Andrew's mouth it was like someone who had gotten his first bite of food after being starved for years. He brought his hands up to the back of Andrew's head and pulled him closer as their tongues battled. And soon, Andrew's hand was down Sirius's pants, and Sirius was feeling things he had never, ever felt before. And Andrew knew that it was done. He was lost. For he was in love with a man he could never have. _

Yes, sometimes he enjoyed the solitude.

He needed it to think—to be alone with the thoughts that threatened to overwhelm him.

Then there were the days when all he could think about was how impossibly alone he was. It had been one of those days when he'd decided to call Sirius.

* * *

Sirius and Remus were lying naked under their covers, facing each other. Sirius had lit the candles on his and Remus's end tables, and their eyes had adjusted to the dimness of the room so that they could see each other clearly.

They'd been lying like that for a long time, Sirius's eyes closed, and Remus staring at him, unable to look away. After a while, Remus sighed.

"Don't apologize again," Sirius said, his eyes still closed.

Remus chuckled and paused. "I wasn't going to apologize… I was…"

"What?"

"I think you should meet with him."

Sirius opened his eyes. "Remus—"

"No, Sirius, I do," Remus said quickly. "And I know it's not my choice and I trust you and I don't care what you decide, but I've been meeting with him for six months and I know he wants to see you. And I know his intentions are pure."

"Why?"

"Why what?" Remus's brow furrowed.

"Why after ten years does he want to see me?"

"I'm not sure," Remus said. "You'll have to ask him."

"But—"

"Look, I don't know why he wants to see you, but I think you should. He played such an important role in your growth." He paused. "Just think, if you'd never met Andrew, would have ever had the courage to pursue me?"

Sirius sighed, knowing Remus was right.

"You don't have to see him. But won't you always be wondering why if you don't?"

* * *

_Next chapter:_

_Sirius gets a little jealous._


	14. Mine

_A/N: First, just wanted to say thank you for all the reviews and kind words of support from my loyal readers. I appreciate it more than you know. Here's a chapter much earlier than expected just to show you how much I care!_

_Second, I can now officially confirm that, after this chapter, there will be 3 more chapters and an epilogue! I've got it all planned out (though not quite written), and I hope you'll enjoy them. _

_For now, enjoy this next chapter and let me know what you think! :)_

* * *

**Chapter 13:** **Mine**

Sirius looked through the glass window of Remus's office and saw the tall, dark employee, Ephraim, standing in front of Remus's desk. Remus was smiling and nodding occasionally and saying things that Sirius couldn't hear. When he looked up and spotted Sirius looking in on him, Remus smiled and waved him in. And although Ephraim's skin was too dark to betray a blush, Sirius could sense the blush when Ephraim saw Sirius striding into the room, like he'd been caught red-handed.

"Hi, babe," Sirius said as he walked around his husband's desk to kiss him quickly.

Remus glanced up at Sirius after he stood up straight and saw that he was looking at Ephraim with slightly narrowed eyes. Remus cleared his throat.

"Um, Sirius, this is—"

"Ephraim," the dark man said, extending his hand to Sirius with a smile.

Sirius glanced down at Ephraim's hand and paused for a second before he accepted the hand offered to him.

"I'm—"

"Sirius," Ephraim finished for him. "I know who you are. Remus talks a lot about you."

Sirius looked down at Remus and smiled as he put a possessive hand on his husband's shoulder.

The gesture did not go unnoticed by Ephraim, who glanced at Sirius's hand before smiling again and looking at Remus.

"Well, I should go, Remus. Work to do. You know." He flashed a big, flirty grin at Remus before nodding at Sirius and turning to leave the room. When he got to the door, he seemed to remember something, and he turned back, his hand on the nob. "Olive oil," he said with a shy smile.

Remus gave Ephraim a quizzical tilt of the head, and Sirius clenched his jaw, trying not to call Ephraim out on flirting with Remus right in front of him.

"For your hands. It will help with the dryness."

"Oh." Remus nodded and smiled. "Thanks. I'll try it out, E."

"Nice to meet you, Sirius," Ephraim then said after smiling back at Remus. "See you later, Rem," Ephraim winked at Remus and then left the room, snapping the door shut behind him.

"_E_? Really, Remus? And he can't call you 'Rem.' I call you that." Sirius moved to sit on the edge of Remus's desk off to Remus's side.

"What?" Remus looked genuinely confused.

"_E_ likes you."

"What? No he doesn't." Remus said dismissively. He tried to move his chair around but Sirius scooted over and placed both hands on either side of the chair, moving his face close to Remus's.

"Sirius, what're you—" But Remus was cut off by his own gasp as Sirius leaned in closer and he felt Sirius's breath ghost down his face. He shivered.

"That guy," Sirius said huskily. "_E_," he said, again emphasizing the 'E.' "He likes you." Remus opened his mouth to protest but Sirius moved in and grazed his teeth along Remus's jawline, making Remus's eyes flutter closed and any protest die on his lips. "I mean, I get it," Sirius said as his mouth moved along Remus's jaw. "How could he not like you? You're sexy," Sirius moved and placed an open-mouthed kiss on Remus's collarbone. Remus tilted his head back slightly to give the other man more room. "Smart," he said as his mouth moved higher, planting kisses in between each word. "Funny." Sirius kissed Remus's chin and moved his mouth so it hovered right over Remus's. "And you've got a killer ass." Remus smiled faintly and tilted his head up to meet Sirius's mouth, but instead, Sirius moved his mouth to the other side of his husband's face.

"You know," Sirius said as his mouth found the part of Remus's neck just below his ear that drove him wild and kissed it softly. "He's probably watching right now." Remus shivered again at the feeling of the dark-haired man's hot breath on his neck. "What do you say we give him a little show?" Sirius nipped at Remus's earlobe, and just when Remus processed the words that Sirius had said and was about to protest, Sirius's mouth found his.

Since Remus had opened his mouth to say that Sirius was crazy and that Ephraim was not watching and that there would be no "show" anyway, Sirius's tongue was able to make an easy entrance. Sirius's hands slid to the back of Remus's neck so he could tip the other man's head back and gain more access. Remus rolled closer in his office chair so that he was in between Sirius's legs as the kiss seemed to go deeper and deeper. Remus's mind was telling him to stop—that he was at work and his office blinds were open and that anyone could see. But his body… His body was betraying every rational thought that his mind seemed to have. It had just been so long since he and Sirius had been like this—carefree and spontaneous, not caring about anyone or anything else around—and the memory of simpler, sexier times was enough to arouse Remus's libido.

Sirius grunted a bit as Remus's hands slid up and rested on his thighs. Remus couldn't remember the last time that Sirius's tongue had been so perfect in his mouth. God, it was like it knew every nook and cranny—every place that drove him absolutely insane. That was when Remus stopped caring. It was his damn company, and if he wanted to make out with his husband in his office, then he very well would.

_What the hell, right? It's only kissing._

It was. Until Sirius moved Remus closer and put one of his knees on the side of Remus's chair so he could press Remus against him. Remus could feel his husband's erection straining against him, and he couldn't help it when he moaned into Sirius's mouth. Then Sirius's hand moved from the back of Remus's neck and slid down his front until it was cupping his erection on the outside of his black slacks.

"Sirius," Remus said breathlessly as he pulled his mouth away from Sirius's. But his husband just moved his mouth to his neck and began to bite and suck and lick and do all the wicked things that he could. It wasn't really Sirius's fault. Remus's breathless protest had sounded more like a desperate plea for more rather than urging the other man to stop. And god, as much as he knew they couldn't do this right here, right now, because if anyone walked by his office they would see them (although it would only look like kissing from their angle), Remus was having a hard time stopping it.

"You're mine, Remus," Sirius said as he began to stroke Remus over his pants.

"Yours," Remus breathed.

"I don't want _E_ getting any ideas," Sirius said hoarsely as his hand started to speed up. Then his hand moved away briefly, but Remus didn't get a chance to feel bittersweet relief because as soon as it was gone, it was slipping inside Remus's pants not a moment later.

"Sirius," Remus tried to protest again, but again it sounded like he was muttering the name in the throes of pleasure. "Sirius," Remus tried again as Sirius's other hand unbuttoned Remus's pants so Sirius could move his hand a bit more freely. "We can't." But oh, Sirius was biting and licking at that spot right below Remus's ear, and then it was moving along his jaw line—biting, sucking, licking, kissing—doing all the things that turned Remus into a puddle.

"Sirius, anyone could see," he tried to say. His voice was just too damn weak and quavering.

"No one even comes up here unless you summon them," Sirius said, ever the voice of reason. The man had a point. Remus's office was in a more secluded area of the building that no one really came by unless Remus asked them to. "Is anyone out there?" Sirius asked.

Remus craned his neck to try and sneak a peak over Sirius's shoulder. "No," he breathed when he saw no one come by for several seconds.

"Good," Sirius said. And then his hand moved so that he could free Remus from his pants, and when he succeeded, he began stroking quickly and efficiently. Remus threw his head back and bit his lip, trying not to moan out loud. He knew it would be over quickly, and it had to be before someone walked by his open window. Remus couldn't believe he was doing this—letting Sirius do this to him when at any moment, someone coming back from a job could burst in to report on something. But right now, Remus's rational mind seemed gone, and all there was room for was _yes, god, yes_ and _more, faster._

And after a few more strokes, Remus was coming. And he leaned forward so he could grip Sirius's thighs, and Sirius continued to stroke as Remus road out his wave of pleasure. He was panting and whimpering with the effort of keeping himself quiet.

As soon as his orgasm was finished, Remus looked up at Sirius slowly who was smiling down at him with a noticeable bulge still in his pants. Without saying anything, Remus stood up, zipped up his pants and walked over to the front of his office. Sirius just watched him as he started at the far left and walked all the way to the right, closing each window along the way. Sirius arched an eyebrow and grinned with salacious intent.

Right when Remus finished with the last window, he turned around to go back to Sirius, but he jumped when he felt arms wrap around him from behind and a mouth find it's way to his neck. Remus bent his head forward to give easier access to Sirius, and he braced one hand against the window in front of him as he felt himself going slightly weak from Sirius's attentions.

"What were you and _E_ talking about before I got here?" Sirius whispered against Remus's neck as his hands went to the front of Remus's pants and unzipped them slowly.

"Work," Remus said hoarsely.

"Liar," Sirius breathed as his hands dipped into Remus's pants but avoided his man's already growing erection. Sirius grinded his hips against Remus's backside and growled low and deep in his throat.

"He watched a… a movie… we had talked about," Remus said breathily as Sirius slid Remus's pants down just enough to expose his ass and free his cock. One of Sirius's hands stayed in the front of the other man's pants, making slow, teasing circles on Remus's inner thigh—but being careful to avoid his cock—while the other hand moved back to knead and massage Remus's ass.

"I don't trust that guy," Sirius breathed into Remus's ear, making the man shiver.

"You… don't have to… trust him," Remus said between gasps. "You trust… me."

Sirius made a noise of affirmation and then moved the hand from Remus's ass up to his mouth. He put two fingers inside Remus's mouth and, knowing what his husband wanted, Remus began to suck. Sirius then moved his hand from Remus's thigh to stroke his freed erection.

"I don't want him talking to you," Sirius said while he continued to stroke and his man continued to suck his two fingers. "I only want him in here if it's to talk about work." Remus tried to protest but he couldn't with Sirius's fingers in his mouth. "Keep sucking," Sirius ordered and then continued. "I trust you, but I don't trust anyone _but_ you." Sirius used the hand that was stroking the other man to maneuver him so he would bend forward. Both of Remus's hands were now pressed against the window in front of him as Sirius moved his finger from Remus's mouth to his entrance and pressed the finger inside. Remus gasped and forgot about what Sirius had been saying as he pumped his finger in and out slowly.

Because the couple had just slept together the night before, Remus was still pretty prepared when Sirius slipped a second finger inside and began to pump agonizingly slow.

"Fuck, Sirius," Remus moaned. "I'm ready."

Then Sirius pulled his fingers out and Remus moved his hips just slightly, letting Sirius know he was ready, but was disappointed when he didn't feel the familiar pressure of Sirius at his entrance.

"Come here," Sirius said quietly. "I want you over the desk."

Remus tried not to move too quickly and eagerly as he did what his husband asked and moved to the other side of the room, his pants still down just below his ass. He stood at the front of the desk with his back to his man and shivered involuntarily when he felt Sirius's warm body press up against his. He then saw Sirius's arm snake in front of him as he moved some of the things on Remus's desk slowly out of the way. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Fucking, come _on_, Sirius," he said exasperatedly as he pushed everything off his desk in one fluid motion.

Remus then felt, rather than heard, Sirius chuckle low in his throat, and in the next few seconds, everything happened quickly. Sirius bent Remus over the desk, unzipped his pants, and was inside the other man in an instant. It only took Remus a few pumps to adjust fully, and soon, he was begging Sirius to go harder and deeper, though Remus was quiet. Even though he knew his office was relatively sound proof, he didn't want to risk anything.

"Fuck," Remus said as one arm extended so his hand could grip the edge of the desk and the other he bent so that he could bite down on his hand to keep from crying out.

Sirius grunted in agreement as he began to pound unforgivingly into Remus.

Sirius's hands were gripping Remus's hips hard, pulling Remus back every time Sirius pounded in. But Remus hardly noticed. He didn't notice Sirius's grip, and he didn't notice how the fronts of his thighs were banging into his desk so hard that he would probably have bruises. He didn't care because Sirius had found the sweet spot and he knew he was close as he tried desperately not to be too loud. Both men were breathing heavily, and Remus would make a whining noise every so often, due to his near inability to fight off his moans.

"I'm gonna come, Remus," Sirius warned, his voice deep and hoarse. "You ready?"

Remus made a weak sound of affirmation and squeezed his eyes closed as he felt himself building higher and higher. He then clenched his muscles around Sirius, making the other man cry out.

"Fuck, Remus."

Remus didn't have a chance to marvel at how he had the ability to make Sirius come undone with just a simple movement because he was coming. It was hard and fast and violent, and he was biting down on his hand hard while still making loud grunting noises in his throat. And then Sirius was coming inside him, and for a moment, the edges of Remus's vision blurred and he thought he might pass out from the force of his orgasm. But as he felt Sirius collapse onto his back, panting heavily, he came back down to earth.

They laid like that for a few minutes—Remus pressed flat against the desk and Sirius on top of him, both men trying to control their breathing.

"You're so fucking hot, Remus," Sirius panted. "So sexy." He kissed the back of Remus's neck as he pushed himself off of Remus and slid out slowly. Remus stayed where he was on his desk, his pants still down, as he heard Sirius zip up his fly.

"Come on. Up," Sirius said as he gave Remus a light slap on the ass. Remus grinned and turned over slowly and pushed himself up on his desk so he was laying on his back with his legs dangling over the sides. Sirius was still close by, and Remus was able to move his legs and so he could wrap them around Sirius and pull him closer. Sirius smirked as he tucked his shirt back in and moved against Remus willingly. Sirius then bent down so his hands were planted on the desk on either side of Remus's waist. Then Sirius laughed.

"What?" Remus said, grinning.

"Well…" Sirius said slowly, his own grin widening. "I may have given you a small hickey." Sirius brought his hand up and brushed at the spot underneath Remus's ear that he had been paying particular attention to earlier.

"Did you really?"

"You can barely see it."

"You idiot," Remus said, although he was smiling when he said it, so the effect was lost. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Well, I came by to fuck my husband."

Remus punched Sirius in his chest, but Sirius just smiled.

"You asked."

"Is that really the only reason you came by?"

Sirius blushed a little. "Well, yeah," he said, suddenly shy. "I was just thinking about you and I wanted to see you."

Remus smiled at Sirius's sudden bashfulness. "And you just abandoned all your work at Black & Potter to come fuck me over my desk." Sirius nodded, still looking shy. "Are you done for the day?"

"Yeah, I told James I wasn't feeling well and that I would see him on Friday."

"Oh, good," Remus said, tightening his legs around Sirius's waist. "Because I want more."

Sirius's eyes darkened as he looked down at his husband's growing erection that was still outside of his pants.

"Why, Remus Lupin, you devil," Sirius said as he leaned forward and kissed his insatiable husband.

* * *

Later that night, Teddy was already in bed, and a naked Remus was laying with his head on Sirius's stomach, lying perpendicular to his husband with his legs bent and his right ankle resting on top of his left knee while he stared up at the ceiling, still breathing a little more heavily than usual. Sirius was laying flat on his back, naked, with one arm bent behind his head and the other hand in Remus's hair.

"I'm beginning to think you only want me for my body," Sirius said.

Remus laughed. "Finally caught on, have you?"

Sirius chuckled and it was silent for a moment before Remus spoke.

"So, how are things going with those kids… Neville and Alice?" Remus asked, and he felt Sirius tense up a bit underneath him.

"Fine. Okay," Sirius said, and Remus just waited for him to say more like he knew his man wanted to. "Well…" Remus tilted his head back a bit so he could look up at his husband. "It's just that he doesn't trust me."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, the kid has been through so much, you know? And I can tell he's scared… Not for himself, but for his sister. He's afraid he's going to get in trouble and he'll have to leave her alone. He doesn't realize that I'm trying to help him because he doesn't seem to trust any adults. And how can I find out the real story and help the kid if he doesn't trust me enough to tell me?"

Remus sighed. "You'll have to get him to trust you," he said somewhat obviously, but then went on to clarify. "You'll have to explain to him and help him understand that you're the only one who's on his side. You're the only one who truly has his best interests at heart."

"But _how_? How do I make him see that?" Sirius was staring at the canopy of their bed in frustration. Remus could tell that his mind was whirring. "How do I make him understand that if he doesn't tell me what happened he's going to be in serious trouble? If I say it the wrong way, he may take it as a threat and close off from me forever. Dammit."

"How old did you say the girl was?" Remus asked after a moment.

"Four."

"Interesting," Remus said slowly.

"What are you thinking, Rem?"

There was a brief moment of silence before Remus spoke. He opened his mouth, closed it, then sighed. "I don't know if this is against the rules or anything—I'm not a lawyer." He looked up at Sirius, who smiled. "But maybe… I don't know. Maybe you could have them over for dinner or something. I'm sure Dumbledore could arrange it so he could come without supervision of someone from the department." Remus shrugged. "I don't know, Alice could play with Teddy and you and Neville could try to get to know each other. Even if he doesn't want to open up, it might be a good way to make him trust you—to let him see that you're a good person."

Sirius stared up at the canopy for several moments, not saying anything.

"Anyway, it was just a thought," Remus said quickly looking forward. "Like I said, I don't know the rules. I'm not—"

"You're brilliant, Remus."

Remus tilted his head back and looked up at Sirius again and saw that the dark-haired man was grinning down at him like a fool.

"Completely fucking brilliant," Sirius said as he bent down to kiss Remus. "Come here." After Sirius kissed Remus once quickly, he grabbed Remus's face in his hands, and Remus was forced to move as Sirius began planting kisses all over his mouth and face, muttering about how amazing Remus was the entire time. Remus ended up straddling the other man, and Sirius's little playful pecks all over his husband turned suddenly into a heated kiss. While Sirius kept his hands firmly planted on either side of Remus's face, Remus's hands came up to rest on Sirius's toned chest.

"You're so god damned smart," Sirius said breathily when he finally broke away from Remus, and the two men rested their foreheads against each other's. "How can I ever thank you?"

"I can think of a few ways," Remus said with a smile as he moved his hips against Sirius's.

"You're killing me, Remus," Sirius growled right before he boosted himself up and moved so that he was now on top of Remus on their bed, with both their heads at the wrong end.

And as Sirius's mouth found Remus's neck and Remus brought his arms up to wrap around Sirius, he couldn't help but smile as he thought to himself, _And what a way to go._

* * *

A bit later, Sirius was laying in his bed with his hands bent behind his head as he stared up at the canopy. It was patterned, and Sirius liked to follow the patterns while he thought. Their bed covers were laying loosely at Sirius's waist, leaving his bare upper half exposed.

While Sirius thought, the sound of the shower soothed him. It was always comforting when he heard Remus showering. He didn't know what it was. Maybe it was the thought of Remus naked and lathering up. Or maybe it was just the thought of how different his life was—the thought that someone he loved so much was so close by and that soon he could be all clean and smelling good and out of the shower to cuddle with him. Sirius wasn't one for cuddling, but there was something about Remus being all clean that made Sirius rethink his aversion to it.

The shower had always been some kind of beacon of knowledge for Sirius. He always had his greatest legal breakthroughs in the shower. He could remember when Priscilla was in the shower, and the sense of dread he would get when he would hear it turn off because he didn't want her near him. He could also remember when he would hear Andrew in the shower. And the spray of the water gave Sirius such anxiety because his feelings for Andrew had been so raw, and yet it was when Andy was in the shower that Sirius thought most about the lie he was living.

"_Penny for your thoughts," Andrew said as he walked out of the steaming bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist as he toweled his hair dry. _

_Sirius looked over at Andrew. And god, he was a vision. Sirius loved running his hands down Andrew's toned stomach. He loved trailing his tongue down Andrew's happy trail until he got to the area he was really searching for. He loved to kiss the chest that Andrew worked so hard to perfect. Sirius had always been athletic, but he had never cared about his body until he met Andrew. Going to the gym together was one of the many ways Sirius had been able to ditch Priscilla to spend time with Andrew alone before… Before everything. Sirius had almost laughed at the irony of Priscilla admiring his new, defined and well-shaped muscles, for they were the product of Sirius's infatuation with another man. _

"_Sirius," Andrew was snapping two fingers in Sirius's face. "Earth to Sirius." _

_Sirius chuckled. "Yeah, I'm here," he said as he swatted Andrew's hand away. _

"_What were you thinking about?"_

"_You," Sirius said with a grin. "Your body." _

_Andrew arched an eyebrow, and before Sirius knew it, Andrew was straddling him, the towels thrown to the side and Sirius's head thrown back as Andrew's mouth attached itself to Sirius's chest. _

"_But Andy…" Sirius said breathlessly as Andrew pulled down Sirius's boxers and looked longingly down at Sirius's cock as it sprang free. "You just got all clean." _

"_So?" Andrew said as he reached over to his bedside table and squirted a bit of lube in his hand. Sirius moaned as Andrew rubbed the cold substance on him._

"_But you're going to get dirty again." _

"_What," Andrew breathed as he watched Sirius's cock grow even more at his attentions. Andrew then raised himself up and positioned his entrance at Sirius's tip. "You don't want to?" Andrew asked, looking at Sirius with dark eyes. _

"_Don't be stupid," Sirius said hoarsely as he lifted his hips up and sank into Andrew as Andrew came down on Sirius at the same time, meeting him halfway. _

"_Okay," Andrew half moaned. "Then why don't you just shut up and fuck me." _

"_You got it, boss."_

When Sirius had been intimate with Priscilla after that, that had been one of his go-to memories to get him in the mood. But now, he just shook his head with a smile when he thought of it. They had been so young. So young and stupid and naïve. They had thought that the world stopped when they were with each other. Andrew had thought Sirius would leave Priscilla and be with him, and Sirius thought Andrew understood that he could never leave Priscilla. Neither of them had understood anything about anything, and they'd both paid for it in the end.

And now, after all that—after Sirius, knowing he was gay, chose to be with Pris over Andrew—the man wanted to see him. Why? To throw water in his face? To punch him? Or maybe he just had some things he wanted to get off his chest. Truthfully, neither of them had really gotten any closure, but Sirius had forgotten about that after he'd met Remus.

See the thing was that everything in his life was BR and AR—Before Remus and After Remus. Sirius had long ago tried to forget everything BR. BR was sadness and melancholy and frustration and darkness. AR was light and joy and happiness and beauty. AR he got Remus and Teddy and he got his best friend back. Andrew was BR. And Sirius didn't know if he was ready to remember and go back to anything BR. He just didn't think he had it in him.

But it seemed that Andrew desperately wanted to see him. Jeez, he had gone through Remus's vetting process for six months (something Sirius was still pretty annoyed about, by the way, and had every right to be, thank you very much). Remus trusted him, so why shouldn't Sirius? Maybe Andrew wanted to be a part of Sirius's new life the same way Priscilla had. Maybe Andrew could become a part of AR. Maybe. Just… maybe.

* * *

"Well, I'm just surprised that my big, hot-shot brother has time for us lowly commoners," Regulus was saying as he took a swig of his beer.

"Please," Sirius said with an eye roll. "You're anything but common."

Regulus just smirked.

"So, how are things with you and Isabelle?" Sirius asked.

Regulus had married his long-term girlfriend, Isabelle, a few years ago. Ever the perfect child, Regulus had married the person that the family had deemed fit. Unlike Sirius, however, Regulus loved the life that he'd been given. Although their father had nearly ruined Regulus's life with the Riddle case, Regulus had seemingly forgiven the man. Now, Regulus was married to the beautiful but cold Isabelle VanGoren, a New York socialite with a rich father and a mother who pretended to be happy while everyone new she had a pretty intense addiction to prescription drugs.

Despite all of it—the arranged marriage, the psychotic parents, the lies, the deceit—Regulus liked the life he had that Sirius had loathed. And despite it all, Regulus was—surprisingly—infatuated with Isabelle. Although she seemed cold to Sirius, Regulus just adored her. And even though Sirius worried about Regulus in the life he was in, he was happy that his little brother had found love.

"She's doing quite well." Regulus tried to sound disinterested but Sirius could see his eyes light up.

"Oh, come on, you gotta give me more than that," Sirius said. "I told you all about Remus, and how he did that thing—"

Regulus held up a hand. "Don't," he said. "I didn't want to hear it then, and I don't want to hear it now. Again." And although Regulus tried to sound serious, Sirius knew he was enjoying himself. Secretly, Regulus wasn't disgusted at all by Sirius and Remus, and—again, secretly—he enjoyed hearing about and being a part of his brother's life.

Sirius rolled his eyes again. "Just tell me one thing about Izzy—"

"Isabelle," Regulus corrected.

"—and I'll leave you alone."

"Fine," Regulus said after a moment. "Just one thing…"

A bit later, they were eating some fancy fish that was distinctly BR to Sirius, and Regulus coughed a bit, making Sirius look up and stop what he had been saying about the Jets. Regulus, however, kept his eyes on his plate, and after a moment of silence when Sirius went back to his food and was about to start talking again, Regulus spoke first.

"Dad mentioned you."

Sirius looked up from his plate and nearly dropped his fork as his hands shook slightly. Regulus was still carefully studying his plate.

"And?" Sirius said after a moment.

Regulus just shrugged. "We were just talking about thanksgiving and he casually said, 'wonder what Sirius is doing.'" Sirius stared at Regulus, but his brother refused to look up at him. After several moments of silence, both men spoke at once.

"Reg—"

"Look, Sirius, I know you're still mad about what happened with Riddle—"

"_Mad_? You think I'm _mad_ about… Riddle?"

"I—"

"When I quit, do you know what he did?" Sirius sighed and put his fork and knife down lightly, trying to control his temper. "When I told him I couldn't work for him anymore, I told him that I didn't want him to hate me, and that I loved him no matter what. I told him I didn't agree with what he was doing but that I still loved him and always would, and you know what he did?" Regulus finally looked up at Sirius, and it looked like he was afraid of what Sirius would say next. "He laughed."

"Sirius—"

"I told my father that I was sorry and that I loved him and he laughed. He called me naïve and stupid and he told me that this 'silly firm'—" Sirius did air quotation marks. "—that I wanted to start would never survive. I told him I loved him and he said that if I failed, he would never take me back."

When Sirius finished, neither he nor Regulus spoke for a while. Regulus had gone back to studying his plate, and Sirius was just watching Regulus, waiting to see what he'd say.

"He was just angry, Sirius."

"Regulus—"

"Let me finish," Regulus said firmly, looking up. "You know how dad is. He's prideful and he's exacting and he's critical. And it's hard to be his son, trust me, I know."

"Oh, but Regulus, you're perfect to him," Sirius said in a voice laced with disdain.

"Do you think that's easy?" Regulus said sharply. "Do you think it's easy trying to live up to his impossible standards? Because it's not."

"Oh, I know."

There was another block of silence, and this time when Regulus spoke, he spoke quietly and to his plate, back to not looking at Sirius.

"Isabelle can't have kids." Regulus's voice was barely above a whisper.

Sirius felt his heart lurch, and he paused, wanting to comfort his brother somehow. "Regulus," he sighed. "I'm so sorry," he said—because it was all he could think to say. He wanted to reach out and put his hand on his brother's but he knew they weren't a touchy family. It was amazing that Regulus was even revealing this, and Sirius knew he couldn't push it too far.

"Dad tried to act like he wasn't disappointed, but I could see it all over his face." Regulus sighed. "I mean, I never really wanted kids, and I don't think Isabelle did either. She only wanted to fit into her social circles. But… We don't want to adopt or do anything like that. We just aren't going to have any."

"Reg—"

"I think Dad wants to meet his grandchild, and Sirius," Regulus looked up at him. "I know you hate him, and you have every right to, but… Sirius, just let him meet the only grandchild he has… may ever have."

There was a long silence—the longest they'd had so far. Sirius closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. When Sirius finally opened his eyes, he found Regulus regarding him intently.

"I'll do it, Reg," Sirius finally said. "For you."

* * *

_Next chapter:_

_A decision is made._


	15. A Fortunate Bonus

_A/N: Greetings all! Thanks for the reviews, and please keep letting me know what you think. FYI, in this chapter, Remus makes a reference to something that happened in SV. If you want a little refresher, it's Chapter 13: James and Lily. Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 14: A Fortunate Bonus**

"I mean, but really, what do you think the motivations are?"

Sirius chuckled a bit. "Mr. Fairchild, it's practically impossible to know the motivations behind these types of crimes. I'm not a social scientist. I'm an economist and a lawyer." Sirius sighed when he noticed Fairchild hanging onto every word he was saying. "But if I had to hazard a guess, I would say greed. What other motivation could there be?"

"Surely not all of these people are just bad people."

"How narrow-minded of you, Mr. Fairchild," Sirius said with the faintest hint of a smirk. "Being greedy doesn't necessarily make you a bad person. It's a natural human experience."

Fairchild sighed and smiled weakly. "Yeah, I guess—"

Fairchild was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Sorry," Sirius said in an irritated voice as he got up to get his closed office door. "Gretchen's out sick, and she's the only one who knows that I don't like to be interrupted when I'm meeting with stu—Remus," Sirius breathed when he opened the door and saw Remus standing there with his eyes closed, holding out take out boxes.

Remus then opened one eye to sneak a peak at Sirius. "Are you mad? I know you hate being interrupted when you're with your students, but Gretchen was out, and—"

"Come here," Sirius grabbed the take out boxes and leaned in to kiss Remus lightly.

"Professor, I can go—"

"Oh, no no, you stay, I'll just wait out here until you're finished," Remus said with an apologetic wave in Fairchild's direction.

"We—um—we were… finished… anyway," Fairchild said nervously as he hastily gathered up his things. "It's not a big deal, I can go."

Remus smiled at the flustered student while Sirius's brow knitted a little bit with some unknown emotion. Fairchild stood up and swung his backpack across his shoulders and onto his back as he walked in their direction. Remus noticed that his face was slightly flushed.

"Thanks—uh—thanks for meeting with me, Professor," Fairchild said, looking at a spot over Sirius's shoulder with a small smile on his face. "It was enlightening as always."

"Thanks for coming by, Mr. Fairchild. I'll see you in class next week," Sirius said as he patted his student's shoulder and moved so he could leave the room.

Fairchild waived to Remus as he walked out, but before he could pass, Remus stuck his hand out in front of the student and smiled.

"I'm Remus, by the way—"

"Oh, shit, I'm so rude," Sirius said shaking his head. "Fairchild, this is my husband, Remus. Remus this is Sterling Fairchild… one of my brightest students."

"Nice to meet you," Fairchild said with a blush at Sirius's compliment as he reached out and took Remus's hand. "I recognized you from the picture," he said, nodding toward the picture that Sirius kept on his desk of the two of them with Teddy.

Remus laughed. "I feel like a celebrity," he said, looking between Fairchild and Sirius. Sirius smiled and Fairchild's blush got a little deeper as a small awkward silence fell upon them. "Right, well, we should eat this before it gets cold," Remus said, gesturing toward the boxes.

"Of course, enjoy your lunch," Fairchild muttered quickly. "Thanks again, professor," he finished and he slipped out of the door and into the hall.

When Sirius put his hand on the small of Remus's back to lead him into the room and shut the door behind him, Remus raised his eyebrows at him.

"Somebody has a serious crush," Remus said as he sat down at the chair across from Sirius's desk.

Sirius arched an eyebrow. "A serious crush or a _Sirius_ crush?"

Remus rolled his eyes at his husband's terrible pun. "Both, idiot."

Sirius just shook his head and sat across from Remus behind his desk as Remus began to open up the food. "I know," he said when Remus handed him a fork.

Remus laughed. "You know?"

"Of course I know. I'm not dense like you, denying that E—or whatever—has a crush on you."

Remus rolled his eyes again. "Ephraim does not have a crush on me. And you know, I would order you not to spend time with that Fairness—"

"Fairness? Really?" Sirius narrowed his eyes and smirked. "You really think someone's last name is 'Fairness'? It's Fairchild."

Remus laughed. "Fuck off. You know what I mean. I would order you not to spend time with _Fairchild_ like you ordered me not to spend time with Ephraim—which wasn't fair by the way because you ordered it during sex, and you know I hate when you get me to agree to things during sex because I have no control—"

"Shut up and eat, will you?" Sirius held up a hand and bent his head slightly to try and hide his smile.

"Well, I know I can't order you not to see him because he's your student," Remus said with a shrug. "The same way you can't order me not to see Ephraim because he's my employee?" Remus added hopefully.

Sirius looked up at Remus and arched an eyebrow. "Nice try," he said with a mouthful of food.

Remus rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. "Well, I don't like you having such long chats with _Fairchild_."

"This conversation is starting to sound eerily familiar," Sirius said under his breath.

"'Oh, teacher, teacher,'" Remus began in a mocking, high-pitched voice. "'_Teach_ me, teacher,'" he said, pouting his lips. "'Teach me the ways of the secular flesh.'"

Sirius gave Remus an incredulous look. "You're losing it."

"'Oh _teacher_, I don't _understand_!' He'll say. 'I'll do _anything_ to _learn_.'"

Sirius was laughing. "Okay, I get it. But there's nothing I can do. I can't just tell my student he has to leave because my husband is jealous of him." Sirius shrugged. "I guess I'll just tell him I'm a cheater so I can't risk it."

The smile that Remus was wearing slipped and he tensed up. "Sirius…"

"I was only kidding," Sirius said, although the air in the office had suddenly changed. Sirius looked at Remus who was resolutely staring at his plate, not looking at Sirius. There was a small pause until Sirius bent his head, trying to get Remus to look at him. "Hey," he said. "I really was only kidding."

"It wasn't funny," Remus said quietly.

"I know," Sirius said, reaching across the desk and putting a hand on Remus's. "Too soon?"

Remus looked up when he heard the humor in Sirius's voice. "Way too soon," he said, returning the smile that Sirius had on his face. "Anyway," Remus said, trying to lighten the air. "I trust you. It's that blond devil that I don't trust." Sirius just grinned and went back to his food. "I just know how students can be…" Sirius nodded, still smiling as he ate and listened to Remus. Then it was like something dawned on Remus and he tilted his head and narrowed his eyes while his mouth began to gape. "Oh, my god," Remus said slowly, making Sirius look up with mild confusion. "You like it," Remus said with a tone that showed he had realized some secret. "He likes you because you're his teacher, and you like that."

Sirius laughed and shrugged. "What can I say? It's nice to be admired." Then Sirius tilted his head and gave Remus a shy, nonchalant grin. "Can I help it if I'm irresistible?"

Remus tried to roll his eyes and look away, but there was something about that look. "Poor kid," Remus said quietly, swallowing and looking down at his food. "He never stood a chance."

Sirius laughed heartily. "I guess no one's immune to my charms," he said. "And what do I care? If it makes him work harder to impress me, that's only good for everyone."

"Will you just get over yourself?" Remus said with feigned annoyance, although he was smiling when he said it, so the affect was largely lost.

Sirius gaped and laughed. "You're the one—"

"Anyway," Remus held up a hand. "I don't trust the kid. You should probably make it clear that he won't get a grade boost by sucking your dick, literally or figuratively."

Sirius coughed and spluttered out the water that he had just taken a drink of. "Christ, Remus," Sirius said. He reached for a napkin, but Remus got to it first and leaned over to wipe Sirius's face. Sirius looked up at him and smiled.

"You take such good care of me," he said with a sexy smile. "Come here." Before Remus could lean back and sit back in his chair, Sirius grabbed the front of his shirt and stood up to meet him halfway so he could kiss him. Sirius slipped his tongue in easily and the kiss lingered for a bit before Sirius finally pulled away.

"Mmm," Sirius said when he sat back down and slowly wiped his bottom lip with his index finger while watching Remus. "You taste like French fries." Sirius laughed when he saw Remus's face change. When he had slid his finger across his lip, Remus's gaze had heated, but as soon as he said the last sentence, Remus had given him an annoyed look.

"Great," Remus said. "Really sexy. Tasting like French fries."

Sirius laughed and they lapsed into a comfortable silence while they ate. After a bit, Sirius seemed to remember something.

"How do you know so much about teachers and students anyway?"

"Personal experience."

For the second time during their lunch together, Sirius choked on his drink.

"Personal experience?" Sirius said, his voice hoarse from coughing.

Remus looked at Sirius with an innocent look. "Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?"

"On our first date with Lily and James, I told you about Mr. Bolenstein?"

Sirius laughed. "I can't believe I forgot that. That was the night you—"

"I know. I was bad," Remus said with a smirk. "I wish I had known that you got off on teachers and students."

"I do not get off on—"

"Oh, you don't?" Remus said, arching an eyebrow. Then, as a smile developed across his whole face, Remus reached out and moved both of their boxes of food onto the empty chair next to him. Then without taking his eyes off Sirius, he walked around the desk and leaned against it, grabbing a book off Sirius's desk.

"Professor," Remus said as he widened his eyes in faux innocence and opened the book. "I really don't get this part of the reading assignment. Can you help me?"

Sirius narrowed his eyes at Remus, deciding to play along. "How can I help, Mr. Lupin?"

"Explain," Remus leaned forward so his face was close to Sirius's, "this part." He pointed to a random spot in the book."

"Well this is a book—"

Sirius was cut off when Remus leaned in even closer and placed a hand on Sirius's crotch. "And go slowly, professor," Remus said, putting emphasis on the word "slowly" as he began to stroke Sirius—slowly. "I'm just so lost and confused."

"Uh…" Sirius's breathing was picking up, but he was determined to beat Remus at his little game. "This is a book of… uh… statutes… so… Fuck, Remus, I can't concentrate."

Remus laughed—a low grumble in his throat. "Well, I'll never get it anyway, professor," Remus said as he put down the book next to him and scooted over on the desk so that he was right in front of Sirius. "So, I guess I'll just have to do something else to get an A," he said as he leaned forward and unbuttoned Sirius's pants and untucked his shirt.

"What did you have in mind, Mr. Lupin?" Sirius growled as his "student" slowly unzipped his pants.

"Hmm," Remus said as he moved off the desk and onto his knees in front of Sirius. "I have a few ideas." And then Sirius was free from his pants, and he was grateful that Gretchen was out sick and that the other professors that shared his office cluster always went out for lunch because he was certain they would have heard his heavy breathing if they'd been near.

Remus slowly dragged his tongue along Sirius's now completely hard shaft, and when a little pre-cum slipped out of Sirius's tip, Remus licked it up slowly, making Sirius groan. Then, Remus's mouth closed over him, and Sirius moaned, sliding one hand into Remus's hair as his other hand gripped the edge of his chair. Remus then slowly slid down Remus's shaft until he had as much of Sirius in his mouth as he could get—almost to Sirius's base. He stayed there for a moment, took a deep breath, and then pulled back slowly, sucking in tightly as he went.

"Fuck," Sirius said deeply as Remus repeated the motion. "God… fuck…"

Then, Remus started to pick up his pace, and soon he could tell by the quivering of Sirius's thighs on either side of his head that Sirius was close. When Remus sucked particularly hard, Sirius bucked and his other hand flew to Remus's hair. Both hands were now gripping Remus's hair, guiding him along. Remus reached into his own pants and began to stroke himself as he brought Sirius closer.

"Remus…" Sirius breathed. "Fuck, Remus, I'm so close," he said as continued to guide Remus's head, his grip tightening in Remus's hair as he got closer. Remus hummed in response, and Sirius grunted as the hum vibrated against his erection. "That's it," Sirius groaned as Remus went a bit faster. Remus glanced up and saw Sirius looking at him with a dark expression. Remus closed his eyes and moaned at the way Sirius was looking at him. He began to stroke himself faster, and suddenly Sirius was coming with a loud grunt. He thrusted a few more times into Remus's mouth as he road out his orgasm. When he finished, he sagged against his chair and looked down at Remus.

"Were you touching yourself?" Sirius asked, his eyes darkening again. Remus nodded. "Come sit up here," Sirius said, lightly touching the edge of his desk. "I want to watch you."

Remus felt his heart quicken and his blood heat up at Sirius's words. He willingly complied with Sirius wishes and got up to sit on the edge of Sirius's desk, never taking his eyes from Sirius's.

"Pull your pants down a bit," Sirius said huskily. "I want to see it." Remus bit his lip and obliged, getting—if possible—even harder at the look Sirius got when he looked down at Remus's cock. "Touch," Sirius ordered quietly, his voice hoarse.

Remus did as he was told, knowing it would be over soon. He felt a bit bashful, but the way Sirius was looking at him, clearly so turned on by what Remus was doing, he didn't want to stop. If there was one thing he loved, it was seeing his husband turned on by him.

"You're so hot, Remus," Sirius said, not taking his eyes off Remus's cock. "Go faster." Again, Remus did as he was told, and while Sirius's eyes were locked on what Remus was doing, Remus's eyes were locked on Sirius.

When Remus knew he was close, he moaned and tilted his head back a bit, continuing to stroke himself for Sirius. His eyes fluttered closed, and just when he thought he would come, he felt his hand yanked away and he looked down, but before he could register what happened, Sirius's mouth was around him. And it only took a few pumps from Sirius for Remus to come hard, his hands gripping the edges of the desk.

"God, Remus," Sirius said after they both sat back and relaxed. "The things you do to me…"

"Back at you," Remus breathed.

After a moment, Remus stood up and zipped up his pants before walking back around the desk and sitting down.

"Are you done for the day?" Remus asked as he watched Sirius tuck himself back in and zip up.

"Why?" Sirius said, looking up and grinning. "You want more?" he asked, echoing the sentiment from the last time they were together in Remus's office.

Remus laughed and looked down at his hands. He'd planned on saying what he was about to say all day, and he thought he would butter Sirius up by bringing him lunch. The sex was a fortunate bonus.

"No—" Remus caught the look of feigned hurt on Sirius's face. "Well, yes, you know I always want more with you." Sirius smiled, appeased. "But," Remus looked back down. "I was just wondering when you were going to talk to Andrew."

There was a pause when Remus continued to stare at his hands. Sirius was the one to break the silence.

"Remus John Lupin, did you come here to butter me up with sex so you could tell me that?"

Remus laughed and finally looked up at Sirius. "No, I came to butter you up with food," he said, holding up the box, which Sirius gestured to and Remus handed to him. "The sex was a bonus."

Sirius smiled, but Remus watched as the smile slipped a bit, as Sirius's mind clearly began to whir. "The truth is, I've been thinking a lot about it…" He trailed off.

"It's been over two weeks since I told you."

"I know."

"He's been texting me and asking, but I haven't responded—"

"He has your cell number?"

"Sirius…" Remus said in a warning tone as if he didn't want to get into a fight.

Sirius sighed. "I should talk to him."

"Yeah, you should."

After several seconds of silence passed, Sirius looked up at Remus with a look of determination. Then he said, "Okay. Set it up."

* * *

After staring at the magazine open in front of him for a full sixty seconds without saying a single word, finally, Sirius just shrugged and looked up at Priscilla with a beseeching look.

His former wife simply stared back at him sternly, arched an eyebrow and nodded back toward the magazine. With a sad sigh, Sirius looked back down, and after ten more seconds, Priscilla finally laughed, yanked the magazine away and punched Sirius on the arm.

"God only knows why I chose you as my man of honor," she said with an eye roll and a smile. "I should have picked someone who cares at _all_ about wedding stuff." When he gave her an apologetic look, Priscilla patted him on the back. "It's okay. It's my own fault. You were terrible at helping me the first time around, so what would possibly make me think you would be better this time?"

"Pris—" Sirius said with a laugh.

"It's fine, it's fine," she said, holding up a hand. She closed the magazine and put it in her purse. "But let me just say, what's the point of having a gay best friend if he doesn't even like this kind of stuff?"

Sirius gave Priscilla a look, and she held up her hands in a show of surrender. "Sorry not all _gays_ love clothes and cakes and centerpieces," Sirius said with a deadpan look at Priscilla.

She slapped him on the chest. "Oh, shut up, you know I was only kidding."

Just then, the waiter returned to fill up their glasses, and when he finished filling up Sirius's, he winked and turned away. Priscilla watched him with narrowed eyes.

"I feel like this didn't happen when we were together."

"It did," Sirius said into his cup, not looking at her.

She whipped her head over at him, and he just shrugged.

"Anyway," she said with a dismissive wave. "Tell me what you wouldn't tell me over the phone. 'It's got to be in person, Pris,'" Priscilla said in her deep, "manly" voice that she always used to imitate Sirius.

"Well, it has to be in person because I didn't want you to hang up on me."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What did you do to Remus this time?"

"You cut me to the quick," Sirius said with mock offense.

"Oh please," Priscilla said with an eye roll. "You're always doing something to that poor man."

"Something dirty, you mean."

She held up a hand to silence him. "Just tell me."

_Best to just say it,_ Sirius thought to himself. _I have to know what she thinks._ He sighed. _Say it!_

"I'm going to meet with Andrew."

Priscilla said nothing. She sat up a little straighter. She swallowed. Her eyebrows rose slightly. And her eyes were darting around as she was thinking. She looked everywhere but at Sirius.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she finally managed to say, "Oh."

"I shouldn't have said anything," Sirius said quickly. "I just wanted to know what you thought about it—what I should say. I can't ask Remus—"

"I know," she said. After a beat she said, "You should have asked James."

"He's not good at this kind of stuff." Sirius watched Priscilla, who still wasn't looking at him. "I'm sorry," he said finally.

"Don't be," she said, her voice an octave higher than usual. She cleared her throat. "Don't be."

"It's just that you and James are the only people who knew me then, and you were there—"

"I don't think I was on a neutral side of things."

"I know—"

"If I had my choice, you wouldn't be meeting with him." She finally looked at him with fierce determination in her eyes. "What can he possibly want from you, Sirius? To ruin another one of your relationships?"

"That's not fair."

"Isn't it! The man was comfortable meeting with your spouse for six months behind your back. Clearly he can't be trusted," she said, struggling to keep her voice down. Sirius didn't say anything. Truthfully, this was—deep down—how Sirius knew she would react. But that was why he wanted her opinion. He wanted to know all the reasons why he shouldn't meet with Andrew.

"Look, I know how you feel about Andrew—"

"I hate him."

That took Sirius aback. He closed his mouth abruptly.

"I don't care, Sirius, I hate him," she said in a harsh near-whisper. "I know you were gay, and I know he helped you, but that doesn't change things."

"You forgave Remus," Sirius interjected. "Why does Andrew get all your hate?"

"Because Andrew is a sneaky bastard who is hell-bent on getting you," Priscilla snapped. "I don't care what Remus thinks because Remus a good, trusting person. Well, I'm not, and even though Remus thinks Andrew's intentions are good, they're not. The man has been in love with you since we were twenty-one, and he has done everything in his sneaky little power to get you—like that fucking _letter_, don't think I forgot—and he will stop at nothing until he does. He is relentless, and you know what else?" She gave him a fierce look, and even though he hated what she was saying, Sirius let her go on, desperate to hear more. "I hate what he did to us, but more importantly, I hate what he did to you. I'll never forgive him for making you choose when you weren't ready."

"Wait… what?" Sirius said, shocked at this admission. This was new.

"Only a desperate man gives ultimatums," she said angrily. "I should know because when I was desperate to keep you I gave you an ultimatum. I said me or Remus, and deep down, I always knew what you'd choose. But I was desperate. And anyway, you were ready to choose. It was time. God knows how many times you'd cheated on me with men at that point—"

"Pris—"

Priscilla held up a hand to silence him. "After over ten years in the closet, you were ready to choose. You had to." She sighed. "But with Andrew, he made you choose before you were ready. How could he possibly think you were ready to choose after your first experience? You were terrified, and he was selfish. He clearly didn't know or understand you well enough. He never—" Her voice broke. "He never loved you like I loved you or… like Remus loves you. Because if he had…"

"He wouldn't have made me choose," Sirius finished for her quietly.

"Meet with him if you want, Sirius," Priscilla finally said. "But I don't trust him," she said with a defeated sigh. Then she added, "And I never will."

* * *

"She doesn't trust him," Sirius was saying into his cellphone as he paced around the dining room, watching Remus set up the table. Sirius stopped pacing to check his reflection in the glass of their cupboard in the dining room. He looked nice but comfortable in a green sweater and fitted, dark blue jeans, his hair tousled, more from wardrobe changes than from styling. It was his fifth outfit change of the night. This was number five from number four, which had been a suit that Remus had strongly advised against.

"_You're trying to get an eight-year-old to trust you, not wooing a Japanese businessman," _Remus had said when he came out of their bedroom.

"James?" Sirius said into the phone. "Did you hear what I said?"

"_Yeah, I heard you," _James said quietly.

"What is it?"

"_I… Now, don't get upset, man, but… I agree with Prissy."_

Sirius didn't say anything. That was not what he had expected to hear. If both James and Priscilla agreed about Andrew… _I mean, they both knew him… Shit._

"She hates when you call her that, you know," Sirius finally said.

James chuckled and another bit of silence fell between them.

"Well—"

"_Look, I think you should meet with him because you'll always be wondering if you don't. But just…" _James paused as if searching for the words._ "Don't forget about Remus, and don't let your guard down."_

Sirius had absolutely no idea how to respond to James's bit of advice. It puzzled him. "This is troubling," Sirius finally said.

James laughed._ "I know, but it'll be fine." _After another short pause, James said_, "Look I gotta go. Lily's giving me the stink eye. But good luck tonight, okay? I'll see you tomorrow."_

"Yeah, tomorrow. See ya."

"_Love you, Sirius, I was not giving the stink eye—"_

Sirius heard Lily's muffled voice just before the line went dead, and he laughed to himself.

When he turned around, he noticed Remus move suddenly… like he'd been listening to the conversation but was now trying to act like he wasn't by pretending that he'd been busy the whole time.

"You heard?" Sirius said with a smile.

Remus looked up at him sheepishly. "Priscilla and James don't trust him."

"Yeah," was all Sirius said.

Remus sighed. "Sirius, maybe you should trust their judgment—I don't know him, he—"

Remus was cut off by the ring of the doorbell.

"I'll get it!" Teddy cried from her bedroom. Sirius and Remus smiled at each other as they heard little thundering footsteps down the hall.

"Ready?" Remus asked. Sirius nodded and they walked to the front door together. When they got there, they saw Teddy standing at the door, switching between eying the social worker suspiciously and grinning at the two little kids in front of her.

"Mr. Black," the social worker said to Sirius when he approached. "Neville and Alice." She put a hand on each of their shoulders and ushered them forward. "I'll leave them with you," she said with a polite smile. "I'll be back to pick them up in two hours."

"Great, thank you," Sirius said.

"Is it protocol to just leave foster children with strangers?" Remus asked under his breath when the social worker left. Remus had assumed the social worker would be staying.

"I'm his lawyer, and he doesn't go anywhere without her," Sirius said simply referring to Alice before walking forward and extending a hand to Neville.

"Do you remember me, Neville?" Sirius said when Neville eyed his hand suspiciously before slowly reaching forward and taking it.

"Sirius," Neville said quietly. "You're going to help me in front of the judge."

Sirius nodded with a smile.

"You have beautiful hair."

Sirius, Remus, and Neville all looked over at Teddy, who was lightly touching Alice's long blond hair. Neville seemed to tense up, but he didn't say anything, apparently waiting for his sister's reaction.

Alice smiled at Teddy. "Thank you," Alice said shyly.

"Are you hungry?" Teddy asked Alice. "You look hungry."

"Teddy," Remus said in a warning voice. Although Remus had just been thinking the same thing—both Neville and Alice looked terribly skinny and underdeveloped for their age.

Alice looked up at Remus for a moment, then she looked at Neville. After a moment, Neville nodded in encouragement.

"I'm hungry," she said to Teddy. Teddy—the wonderful, precocious little girl that she was—then took Alice's hand and started walking her to the kitchen.

"That's good," Teddy was saying as she led the blond girl away. "Because my dads made a lot of food."

* * *

A little over an hour later, they had finished dinner and were all sitting in the family room. Teddy had dragged Alice into the family room to play with her toys, and when Sirius saw how tense Neville got at the absence of his sister, Sirius had stood up and gestured for Neville to follow him. Remus was now sitting on the floor with Teddy and Alice, giving Sirius and Neville a safe distance to talk alone. Every so often, Remus would look up at Sirius and give him an encouraging smile.

"Is Remus your boyfriend?" Neville said after one smile.

Sirius made a shocked face and chuckled nervously. "Remus is my husband."

"Oh."

"We've been married for almost four years now."

Neville was regarding Remus intently. "I like Remus," he said. "He's nice."

Sirius smiled. "I think so, too."

"You're nice, too."

"Thanks," Sirius said. "I try to be."

"I never met a man married to a man before," Neville said.

Sirius bit his bottom lip, not knowing what to say. He and Remus hadn't even had the gay marriage talk with Teddy yet. She hadn't started asking questions yet. They figured they had at least until she went to kindergarten. As a result, Sirius was wholly unprepared for this conversation with Neville.

"Um…"

"I like it," Neville said. "You guys love each other."

Sirius felt like he'd never been so moved in his life.

"You love Teddy, too," Neville said when Sirius didn't—or wasn't able to—say anything.

"Very much," Sirius said. He watched Neville. He was staring at Teddy, Remus, and Alice as he spoke.

There was a long block of silence before Neville spoke again. Sirius watched him watching the three of them playing while he waited. "You don't ever hurt Teddy, do you?" Neville asked quietly. "I wouldn't think you were nice anymore if you did."

Sirius frowned deeply and glanced up, catching Remus's eye. Remus's tilted his head questioningly at Sirius's frown although he couldn't hear Neville, but Sirius just shook his head slightly. "I would never hurt Teddy. Neither would Remus. We love her."

After a moment, Neville said, "Rudy said he loved Alice and that's why he hurt her." He was talking so quietly that Sirius could barely hear him, but in that moment Sirius froze. He couldn't hear anything but the words coming out of Neville's mouth. He was simultaneously excited that Neville was opening up to him and terrified of what he was about to hear. Sirius chose not to say anything, fearing that he would scare Neville back into silence if he did. So instead, he waited.

"That's why I killed him, you know," Neville whispered. "I got the gun from his drawer and I shot him while he was hurting Allie." He was starting to talk faster, raising his voice slightly. "And he got up and he tried to come after me but he couldn't walk good because I shot him in the leg. And he tried to grab me but I shot again and it hit him in the heart and he fell, and he didn't move anymore. I told Allie to hide, and she did. She ran and hid under the sink and I told her to stay there. And then I sat down and watched all the blood come out."

When Neville whipped his head around to look at Sirius, the intensity in his eyes knocked the wind out of Sirius. "I just couldn't let him hurt her anymore. Sirius, I didn't want to do it, but I h-had to!" Neville began to sob uncontrollably, and the only thing Sirius could think to do was wrap his arms around the boy and hold him close. So he did.

Sirius looked up and saw the looks of alarm and confusion on Alice, Teddy, and Remus's faces. Alice looked terrified at the sight of her brother crying—probably because she'd never seen the boy cry. He would have always wanted to be strong for his sister. Remus looked at Sirius, but Sirius just shook his head as he held Neville tighter.

"I c-couldn't let him hurt A-Alice. I c-couldn't," Neville's muffled voice was coming from Sirius's chest. And in an enormous show of the need this boy had for Sirius, he wrapped his arms tightly around Sirius and cried harder. "P-please," Neville cried. "D-don't let me g-go to j-j-jail! Wh-who will protect Alice i-if I g-go?"

Before Sirius could say anything, Teddy waddled over to Neville and put a small hand on his knee. He stopped crying abruptly as if he suddenly realized that he and Sirius weren't the only ones in the room. Neville looked at Teddy, hiccupping occasionally and wiping away his tears, though he didn't let go of Sirius.

"Do you have a boo-boo, Neville?" Teddy asked gently. "If you do, I know my dad can make it better."

* * *

_Next chapter:_

_The meeting._


	16. The Meeting

**Chapter 15: The Meeting**

"_Don't walk away from me, Sirius!"_

_A clap of thunder reverberated off the walls of Andrew's apartment, and Sirius stopped at Andrew's door with his hand on the knob. _

"_What else do you want me to say?" Sirius said quietly, his back to Andrew. There was a beat of silence._

"_I want you to tell me you love me."_

_Sirius turned around to face him after the other man murmured the words. _

"_You know I love you," Sirius said with an exasperated, humorless chuckle. "Which is why I don't understand why you're so worked up about me being twenty minutes late to a movie date."_

_Andrew took a few steps forward and threw his hands out angrily. "Don't you fucking get it, Sirius?" He sighed. "I'm worked up because I know that when you're not with me, you're with her. And," he went on, talking over Sirius who tried to interject, "Even when you're not with her, I imagine that you are. God, Sirius." Andrew shook his head roughly and closed his eyes. "It drives me insane thinking about it… you… with her… kissing her, touching her—"_

"_She's my fiancé—"_

"_And what am I, Sirius?" Andrew shouted. Another clap of thunder sounded outside, making Sirius tremble slightly—though he wasn't sure if it was from the thunder or from Andrew's words. There was a long silence that neither of them broke. Andrew was staring at Sirius, who was staring at the floor. Finally, Sirius spoke. _

"_You know what you are, Andy," Sirius whispered. Though at this point, Sirius wasn't sure either._

"_Do I?"_

"_Andy—"_

"_Am I your boyfriend? Your lover? Your gay fuck buddy?"_

"_Stop." _

"_Because I'm sure as hell not anything more than some thing on the side," Andrew went on, ignoring Sirius. "You've got everything you could ever want. Your life is the very definition of having your cake and eating it, too—"_

"_Andy—"_

"_You've got your perfect little high society life with your uptight wife and your country club friends. Then you've got a dude on the side that you like to fuck occasionally, getting from him what you just can't quite seem to get from your woman."_

"_Enough," Sirius nearly shouted. "Enough."_

_Andrew stopped talking, silenced by a stern and angry tone he had never heard from the beautiful man with jet-black hair standing before him. _

"_Do you think I like this?" Sirius said, his voice an angry hiss. "Because if you think I _like_ living a lie, you must have no fucking brain in that pretty little head." He clenched his jaw before he went on. "Do you think I like sleeping in bed next to my future wife and pretending that I'm not imagining lying next to you? Do you think I like telling my fiancé that I love her when just a few hours before I was saying it to you while I was _inside_ you? Don't be stupid, Andrew," Sirius finished harshly. _

_After several moments of tense silence, Andrew spoke._

"_I love you, Sirius," he said with an anguished voice. "I just… This is so hard." _

"_I know that," Sirius snapped. Obviously he knew that. "But you don't get it, Andy," he said, his voice softening a bit. "I'm the one here with everything to lose, not you."_

"_I have everything to lose," Andrew whispered back. "_You_ are my everything, Sirius. If I lose you, I…" his voice trailed off. _

_Sirius took a few steps forward so that he was standing just a few inches in front of Andrew. Sirius reached up and put a hand on Andrew's cheek. Andrew leaned into his touch as his eyes fluttered closed. But then after a moment, he stepped back. _

_The rain was falling hard outside and the wind was howling, making the windows in Andrew's apartment shake and groan against the strain. _

"_Sirius…" Andrew breathed. "I love you… so much…"_

_Sirius could hear the "but" in his voice._

"_But I can't…" Andrew's chin was quivering as he spoke. "Sirius you… I can't live like this… Always… wondering…" He sighed. "You have to choose." _

"_What?" Sirius's eyes widened in horror. _No,_ he thought. _It's too soon.

_Andrew clenched his jaw and his sadness turned into defiance. "It's me or her, Sirius," he said. "You can't have it both ways anymore. It's… it's me or her."_

"_How can you do this?"_

"_Do what?" Andrew said, his voice rising. "Have respect for myself? Not allow myself to be used by a man who can't make up his mind? It's not fair to me, Sirius! And it's not fair to her either!" _

"_Andrew—"_

"_I won't live like this anymore!" Andrew screamed. "I can't!"_

"_She's supposed to be my wife, Andrew!" Sirius yelled back. "I've known her all my life. I—"_

"_Don't you dare say you love her."_

_Sirius opened his mouth and closed it a few times. "But I do, Andrew… I do love her."_

"_Get out."_

"_And—"_

"_GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY APARTMENT! GET OUT!" Andrew shoved Sirius hard, but Sirius hardly moved, looking deeply sorrowful. He tried to grab Andrew's wrists but the other man yanked them back before shoving Sirius again. "FUCK YOU, SIRIUS, GET OUT!"_

"_If I leave, I'm not coming back," Sirius said quietly, his eyes dark and serious._

"_Then so be it."_

_With that, Sirius grabbed his jacket from in front of Andrew's door and without looking back at the man who had taught him so much about himself, he left, slamming the door behind him. As he bounded down the stairs of Andrew's apartment complex, Sirius fumed to himself. He should have never gotten into this mess in the first place, but Andy just hadn't been able to take no for an answer. _He knew what he was getting himself into. He knew what this was_, Sirius thought angrily. How was the other man so shocked? But as Sirius approached the exit to the building and yanked his jacket on and threw his hood up, he began to shake. With what? Anger? Fear? He didn't want Andrew out of his life. He loved him._

_Sirius walked out of the building and into the rain, and as he felt the wetness on his face—the rain mingled with what Sirius was denying were tears—he heard a shout behind him. Sirius turned around, and saw Andrew running out of his apartment with nothing on but the t-shirt and jeans that Sirius had left him in. _

_Andrew ran up to him and before Sirius could say anything, Andrew grabbed Sirius's face in his hands and brought his mouth to his. Sirius sighed and opened his mouth, letting the other man kiss him fiercely. He wasn't ready to say goodbye to this. _

"_Sirius, I love you," Andrew said loudly over the rain when he pulled away. "Don't leave me."_

"_I…"_

"_Come upstairs. It's raining."_

"_She'll be expecting me later," Sirius said. _

"_I don't care. I need you. Now." And then Andrew's mouth was on Sirius's again, kissing him like he never had before—pouring all of his emotion into the man in front of him. "Please," Andrew said quietly. Sirius could barely hear it above the rain._

"_Okay," Sirius said._

_And he followed the man he loved upstairs. And as soon as they were back inside, they were all hands and mouths, ripping at each other's clothing, trying to find some solace in the fear they both felt—the fear that this might be the last time. Somehow they managed to make it to Andrew's bedroom, and they fell on the bed together, a tangle of limbs and heavy breathing. And soon, they were naked, and as Sirius slid inside Andrew, he felt tears spring into his eyes, unbidden and unwanted. Sirius loved this man so much, but his life had been decided for him long before he'd ever met this man who had turned his world upside down. _

_Somewhere deep inside, as Sirius was taking Andrew slowly and deeply, he knew this would be the last time. And as they came down from their highs, Sirius tried to tune out the words that Andy was whispering in his ear as they were falling asleep. But there were some words that he couldn't block out—some that would stick in his mind for the rest of his life. _

"_Choose me."_

* * *

Sirius was groaning loudly, his hands gripping the edge of the couch as hard as he could, arching his back and meeting each of Remus's thrusts.

Teddy was with her grandparents for the night. They had planned to stay in and just watch some old episodes of a show they liked about a wealthy British family in the early twentieth century, but then they had started making out… And then the kisses had heated up. And Sirius's hand had found its way into Remus's pants. And then they were pulling each other's clothes off… And finally Remus had turned Sirius over and kneeled behind him, taking him hard and fast.

God, it felt good. It felt like Remus hadn't been inside Sirius in ages, and sometimes Sirius just needed it. He needed to feel that pressure—that fullness.

Remus's hand came around to grip Sirius's length, which felt like it was pulsing in Remus's hand. Sirius bowed his head and moaned, and Remus's breath was coming out in heavy bursts, matching each of his thrusts.

Remus brought his free hand up to press on the small of Sirius's back, making him lift his ass to accommodate Remus, and then Remus leaned over a bit, and Sirius felt him deep inside as he hit the spot that they were each desperately seeking.

Sirius cried out and the other man grunted loudly as Sirius's muscles clenched around him.

"Harder," Sirius managed to breathe. And then Remus was pounding on, hitting that spot each time, making Sirius moan and groan continuously. Remus released his hold on Sirius's shaft so that he could grip his hips and thrust into him. "Fuck," Sirius groaned. "God dammit, Remus."

Then, after a few more thrusts, Sirius was coming hard with a shout, and Remus pumped a few more times before he released himself with a low growl. Remus collapsed onto Sirius's back, and they both sank onto the couch, Sirius on his stomach and his husband resting on his back, both men breathing heavily.

"That was…"

"I know," Sirius said, finishing Remus's thought.

"You gotta let me do that more often."

Sirius chuckled and sighed. "Are we going to make it to the bed? I'm exhausted."

"Let's just sleep here. Like this."

Sirius laughed again. "With you laying right on top of me and inside me. Not a chance."

"But just think about how easy it will be when we wake up in the middle of the night and I want you."

"Get off me," Sirius said with a laugh as he moved beneath his husband.

Remus chuckled and rolled off of Sirius. They both sat on the couch for a moment next to each other, naked, watching the people on the screen. After a few minutes, Sirius looked over at Remus. Feeling his man's eyes on him, Remus turned.

"Let's go to bed," Sirius said.

"Yeah, we probably should," Remus said casually, not really getting Sirius's suggestion. "You'll need your energy for tomorrow."

_Right,_ Sirius thought. _Andrew._ But he didn't care about that right now.

"I was thinking we could go to bed, but we wouldn't do much sleeping."

Remus arched an eyebrow at his husband.

"You wanna go again?" Remus asked.

Sirius nodded. "And again and again and again."

Without saying anything, Remus got up and began walking out of the room, still naked. In the doorway of the family room, Remus stopped and turned around. "Are you coming?" he asked.

"Hopefully," Sirius said with a wicked grin.

"God, I knew there was a reason I married you," Remus said. And with that, he bolted to their bedroom, Sirius hot on his heels.

* * *

Andrew took a deep drink of steaming coffee he was holding. It burned his mouth, but he didn't even notice it. It was like his entire body was numb. He couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't think. All he could do was imagine.

For years he had wondered what it would be like if or when he saw Sirius again. Would it be a planned meet up like this, or would it be a casual encounter on the subway?

Andrew nearly laughed out loud at the thought of Sirius on the subway. Never in a million years would the son of a Black ride New York City public transportation.

Truthfully, for years, Andrew always imagined that when he saw Sirius again, it would be because he had finally decided that he had to leave Priscilla. And in Andrew's head, the first person that Sirius would want to tell about his newfound enlightenment would be him. In Andrew's mind, the only thing that had ever stopped he and Sirius from being together was that minor detail that he couldn't leave his wife. For years, Andrew had imagined that Sirius would leave her, and that he would then run into Andrew's waiting arms.

That fantasy had died a few years ago when he'd heard about Sirius's marriage to Remus. Honestly, the fantasy had died before that. It took him years to realize that it wasn't just Priscilla—it was the pair of them—that was keeping them apart. It had always been and would always be too complicated. Sirius hated complicated.

Andrew sighed and set his coffee cup down. It wasn't until he heard the ceramic against the wood of the table that he realized he was shaking.

He had to be insane for doing this. But clearly, Andrew thought to himself, his sanity had gone out the window months ago when he'd decided to call Sirius. His sanity had gone out the window when he'd met in secret with his old lover's husband for six months. His sanity had jumped from the top of a fifty story building the day that Remus had texted him and said, _He'll see you next Thursday, Jay's Coffee House at 5pm_. It was their old spot. Remus didn't know that unless Sirius had told him. And Andrew couldn't help but feel the burst of excitement in his gut. Sirius had chosen Jay's, Andrew didn't doubt it, and Andrew had felt the butterflies go mad when he imagined seeing Sirius—ruffled, black hair—in the place he had seen him so many times before. Before everything.

"Sir, would you like more coffee?"

Andrew looked up and was about to respond to the server when a figure entering the coffee shop caught his eye.

And suddenly, it was like he had been holding his breath for ten years, and for the first time in a decade, he was finally able to exhale.

_Sirius._

* * *

Sirius stood in an alleyway outside of Jay's Coffee House, taking deep, calming breaths. He couldn't believe he was doing this. And it was like suddenly the reality of what he was doing was hitting him. It had been ten years since he'd even laid eyes on Andrew, and after everything, he was just going to walk right in to their old place like nothing had happened and have coffee? Come on.

It had been Remus who had suggested Jay's. It had made Sirius's heart stop when Remus had mentioned "the quaint little coffee house in Greenwich." Of course he had no idea that Jay's had always been the place that Sirius and Andrew had gone to hide from Priscilla. That had been the place where they had touched each other's legs under the table, whispered into each other's ears, and pretended as if they were the only two people who existed in the world. Sirius should have told Remus that that had been their spot and that they shouldn't meet there, but he couldn't. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't.

Sirius closed his eyes and took another deep breath as he remembered the last time that he had been here. He and Andrew had gotten into another fight about Priscilla, right before the last big fight they would have about it all. As Sirius had been storming through Greenwich, he'd felt his phone vibrate, and a moment later, he'd seen a message from Andrew. _Jay's. Now._

God, it felt like a lifetime ago, and yet the memory also felt as fresh as if it had happened just a week ago. It made Sirius shiver.

Finally, with one last deep breath, Sirius turned the corner and walked swiftly into Jay's.

And then he saw him—the man who had turned his world upside down when he had barely known a thing about who he was. It was like his life was flashing before his eyes as all the memories stampeded into his brain. Sirius had spent so much time trying to forget about this man, but it was as if all those thoughts and memories had been hibernating, and now they were back, clearer and brighter than ever.

_Andrew._

* * *

"Hey."

"Sirius," Andrew stood up from his chair and walked around the table to meet Sirius. When he got in front of him, he stood there awkwardly for a moment, not knowing what to do. Just when he was contemplating putting out his hand for Sirius to shake, Sirius grabbed his shoulder and pulled him forward into a hug. Andrew was momentarily stunned, but almost immediately he relaxed into Sirius's arms. "God, Sirius." Andrew inhaled Sirius's scent. Even after almost a decade, the man he had fallen so deeply in love with still smelled exactly the same. It was like coming home.

Sirius was the first one to pull away. "You look good," he said when he took a seat. Andrew moved to sit across from him and he smiled.

"Thanks," he said. "So do you."

There was a moment of silence before the waiter came over and asked Sirius if he would like anything. After Sirius ordered coffee and a turkey sandwich, silence lapsed over the table. Finally, Sirius broke it.

"This is crazy, isn't it?" he said, his voice somewhat incredulous.

"Yeah," Andrew breathed. "I can't… I never thought I'd see you again. I can't believe you're here." He sighed. "You really do look great. Marriage suits you."

"Andrew…" Sirius started. For some reason, he felt apologetic.

"It's okay, Sirius," Andrew said with a smile. "I'm happy you're happy."

"Well, it's just that—"

Just then, the waiter came back with a mug and a pot of coffee. All three of them were silent as the cup was filled up.

"Your sandwich should be ready soon," the waiter said before he backed away awkwardly.

"Andrew—"

"You don't have to apologize, Sirius—god, this is crazy," Andrew suddenly exclaimed. "I—I just can't believe I'm sitting across from you at Jay's, having coffee, and talking about your… _marriage_ to a man. I can't get over it."

"I know," Sirius said. "It's… surreal."

"It's weird, you know… Saying your name. To you."

"What do you mean?"

"I just didn't say your name out loud for years," Andrew said, shaking his head. "And then I met with Remus, and even then, saying it to him didn't feel all that strange. But now…" He shrugged. "Sitting across from you, looking at you, and saying your name to you… It's…"

"I know."

Silence fell once again, and Sirius found himself wondering what to say. What was there to say? _"Hey, how have you been for the last decade?"_ or _"Hey, what did you and my husband talk about?"_ Everything seemed so superficial. This used to be a man that Sirius was incredibly intimate with, and now he found himself wanting to ask if he'd seen any good movies lately. It just didn't seem right.

"You got my letter, didn't you?" Andrew asked quietly, breaking the silence.

Sirius looked at him. "Yeah," was all he could say.

"I'm sorry—"

"Don't apologize," Sirius said quickly.

"I bet she didn't like it very much."

Even now, Andrew couldn't bring himself to say her name.

Sirius chuckled a bit. "No, she didn't."

"I don't know why I sent it. I just… I wanted you to know… that I hadn't forgotten about you."

"I wanted you to forget me," Sirius said. The words slipped out before he could stop them.

"Why would you say that?" Andrew looked confused and hurt. "Did you forget about me?"

"Of course not," Sirius answered a bit more sharply than he intended. "I was hurting, and I didn't want you to feel what I felt. I wanted you to move on and be happy without me."

Andrew looked mildly stunned. "I… Sirius, I could never be fully happy without you."

Sirius felt a cold hand clench his heart. That was what he was afraid of. And he understood how Andrew felt. Before he'd met Remus, Sirius had felt the exact same way. Even when he thought he was happy—when things between him and Priscilla had been going well—there had always been this emptiness. It was that feeling you get when you're forgetting something—like something's missing, but you don't quite know what it is. That was every day after Andrew and before Remus. Now, there was no space inside him for all the fullness and happiness he felt.

"Andrew…"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"It's okay."

Another long silence passed. The waiter brought Sirius's sandwich, but he couldn't bring himself to eat.

"You aren't hungry?"

Sirius looked up at him, but didn't say anything. He wanted to talk, but he wasn't ready to talk about his past, present, or future with Andrew. Anything but that.

"What did you do after graduation?"

Andrew nodded as if he understood that Sirius didn't want to talk about anything yet. "Nothing very interesting… I started in a doctoral program for—"

"British literature, I remember," Sirius said with a smile.

Andrew nodded and then shrugged. "But I dropped out after a few years, and Christof and I moved to Oregon."

"Oh, you mentioned something about that in your letter. How was it?"

Andrew then launched into the story of Oregon. He told Sirius that he still loved Brit Lit—he moved back to the city to take a teaching job at a private school in the city. He talked about Oregon, how beautiful it was, and how things with Christof had been so easy and simple—so simple that Andrew had become bored. He told Sirius how he'd fallen out of love with Christof (or perhaps he'd never really loved him) soon after they'd gotten settled just outside Portland, but that he'd stayed for two more years after that, hoping that he could find solace in the simple life he had with the man. He never could.

Sirius told Andrew about how things had gone with Priscilla in the time between college and Remus. He told Andrew about how he'd met Remus and how things had been since then, pausing occasionally to make sure that he wasn't repeating something that Remus had already told him. To Sirius's surprise, Remus hadn't divulged very much at all about their shared life, which made Sirius feel slightly better about the whole situation.

For a while, Sirius talked about Teddy—how hard things had been at first, but how much he was absolutely in love with her. Then he talked about work. He told Andrew about teaching at NYU, and he talked about the Riddle case—his fallout with his father and his rejuvenated relationship with his brother—and he talked about his new case with Neville and Alice. Andrew listened, nodding and responding at all the right places. As the two of them sat there and caught up on each other's lives for the past ten years, Sirius started to feel weirdly comfortable. It was as if they were back in college, and they were having dinner and catching up on their days or weeks.

To Sirius, Andrew hadn't changed a bit. He had a bit more lines on his face and his face seemed a bit more angular—more mature—but he still laughed the same, talked the same, and ate the same. He still took his coffee with more cream and sugar than was possibly necessary, and he still had the same boyish smile that he'd had ten years ago. He still bit his nails occasionally, and when Sirius talked, Andrew still crinkled his brow as if he was trying to take in every single word that Sirius was saying. When Andrew got up to go the bathroom, Sirius couldn't help but notice that his walk hadn't changed either. He still walked with smooth, easy grace that Sirius had always envied and tried to emulate.

As he waited for Andrew to return, Sirius finished the cake that he had ordered a while ago, and he tried not to think about what would happen when Andrew got back. They were all caught up. It would have to get more serious now. He knew it would. But now, he didn't mind as much as he had earlier. It had always been easy to talk to Andrew, and for some reason, now he wanted to talk. He wanted to know everything Andrew was thinking, and he wanted Andrew to know everything he was thinking. He was ready. In all honesty, Sirius had been waiting almost a decade for this.

"It's crazy how this place hasn't changed at all," Andrew said when he sat back down across from Sirius. "Even the graffiti on the walls in the bathroom is the same."

Sirius laughed. "Is our graffiti still there?" Andrew just nodded and didn't look up as he took a sip of his coffee. That was when the air changed. The anticipation was building as if both of them knew what had to come next.

"I missed you."

Andrew looked up at him, and really neither of them could believe that the words were said.

"God, Sirius, I missed you, too."

"I mean, you weren't just… we weren't… you were my friend," Sirius managed. "I missed my friend."

Andrew got a strange look on his face that Sirius couldn't place. Disappointment? Regret?

"You know…" he started, but he closed his mouth and shook his head as if he thought better of it.

"What?" Sirius encouraged.

Andrew looked at him squarely. He blinked slowly. He looked down at his coffee and then up at Sirius again. "I always thought it would be me."

Sirius didn't have to ask what he meant, so he didn't say anything, and Andrew went on.

"I thought you'd leave her one day. I mean, the way you were with me, I knew you couldn't live as a straight man forever." He paused. "But I always thought… I thought that if… if you ever decided to be… who you are… I thought—I don't know—I thought…" Andrew laughed somewhat humorlessly. "I thought you'd call me… or something."

"Andrew…" Sirius said slowly.

"Look," Andrew interrupted so he could continue. "It's like… You know when you give your friend really good advice? And you can tell they aren't really hearing you, but they act like they are. You tell them… 'you know, you should really go with the yellow tie.' And they say, 'yeah. Maybe.' And then, a few hours later, someone else says 'you know, you'd really look great in that yellow tie.' And you get frustrated because your friend goes with the yellow tie and all the credit goes to that second opinion."

Sirius frowned, confused.

Andrew chuckled. "I'm the first friend, Sirius, and Remus is the second. And the yellow tie is…"

"Yeah," Sirius said. "I get it." He frowned again. "So are you saying you want… credit… You want credit for my life?"

"No!" Andrew said, shaking his head, but then he stopped and looked down at his cup. In fact, that was exactly what he wanted. "Well…"

"Andrew, I love Remus—"

"I know," Andrew said quickly.

Sirius nodded. "I love him, and he gets some of the credit. If I hadn't been so crazy for him, I might still be with Pris… And Andy, you… You _do_ get some of the credit. Who knows if I would have had the guts to go for Remus if it hadn't been for my relationship with you? Trust me, I know that." Sirius paused as if considering his next sentence. "But most of the credit goes to me." Sirius shrugged. "And I know that sounds dumb and selfish, but I finally realized that I couldn't be who other people wanted me to be. I had to do things on my own and in my own way.

"I made a lot of mistakes, Andy. A lot… But I was the one who had to realize them, and Remus was the only one who was willing to let me do things on my own. You and Priscilla… You both wanted me to be things and do things that I wasn't ready for. And it wasn't until I decided to take responsibility for my own happiness that I could be where I am. So… yeah… most of the credit goes to me."

It was the first time Sirius had ever said those words out loud, and he felt proud of them. But he could tell by the look on Andrew's face that he still wanted more.

"But I do thank you, Andy," Sirius said, reaching out a hand on touching Andrew's. "I don't know where I'd be if it weren't for you."

Andrew chuckled a bit. "You'd be with Remus," he said simply.

Sirius cocked his head to the side, waiting for Andrew to go on.

Andrew just shrugged and looked into his cup. "For a long time I thought you and I were soul mates, but… seeing you… meeting him… hearing you talk about your life… It's just so clear to me now how perfect you are for each other. He's everything you need. He treats you the way I should have treated you… The way you deserve to be treated." He paused and looked up at Sirius. "That's all I ever wanted for you, Sirius… I just want you to be happy." He reached up to grip the hand that Sirius had laid over his. They smiled at each other for a moment before Andrew sighed and squeezed Sirius's hand.

"I'm dying, Sirius."

"What?" Sirius said, his brow creasing in confusion.

"I have cancer."

"What—Andrew, what are you saying?"

"The reason that I moved back to New York wasn't just to take that job. I was sick and I wanted to come back here with family and friends while I was getting treatment."

Sirius started to tremble as his breathing and heart rate sped up. "Andy, I—"

"When I first met Remus, I was in remission." Andrew nodded and took a deep breath. "I wanted to talk to you because I felt like I'd just stared death in the face, and I didn't want to go through life with regrets or loose ends. I wanted to live in the moment, and that meant doing things I had always put off. That meant seeing you." He shrugged and smiled. "Last month I went to the doctor and they told me that the cancer had come back and it had spread."

"What does this mean?" Sirius said, his voice sounding frantic.

"It means I'm glad you decided to meet me because we were almost out of time," Andrew said with a laugh.

"God dammit, this isn't funny, Andy," Sirius said, slapping the table and causing a few people around to look over at them. Sirius was still holding Andrew's other hand and he squeezed it tighter. "Tell me what it means…" He looked imploringly at Andrew. "How… how long do you have?"

Andrew smiled at Sirius sadly. "A month… maybe two."

Sirius finally released Andrew's hand as his whole body began to shake. He brought his hand in a fist up to his mouth to try and stop the emotion. He rubbed a hand down his face and looked at Andrew.

"You mean to tell me that you're going to walk back into my life only to leave it again!"

"Sirius, keep your voice down," Andrew said softly. "When I started all this, I didn't know I would get sick again." Andrew tried to grab Sirius's hand again, but Sirius yanked it away, too upset to give in. "Sirius… Sirius, please don't be upset with me. I…" he sighed and when he spoke again his voice was shaking. "I'm just glad I got to see you one last time."

"Don't," Sirius said angrily. "Don't start saying your goodbyes."

"But Sirius…"

"Dammit, Andy!" Sirius hissed. Then something dawned on him. "Did Remus know about this? Is that why you two were so desperate for us to meet? If he—"

"No, no," Andrew shook his head, holding up a hand. "Remus has no idea about any of my illness. I wanted to be the one to tell you."

Sirius shook his head as his eyes darted around frantically. "I… Andy, I… I thought we were going to be friends." He looked up at Andrew. "I thought we were going to settle things and get some closure in our relationship, and I thought… I thought we'd be friends and that you'd see James and you'd meet Teddy and we'd… I thought…"

Andrew smiled. "Sirius, we can be friends."

"For a month!" Sirius said through clenched teeth.

"Yes, for a month," Andrew said exasperatedly. "But would you rather have heard about my death in the newspaper or from some college friend?" Sirius didn't say anything. Andrew was right. "Sirius, I don't want it to be this way. You think I like dying?" he said with a laugh. When Sirius clenched his jaw and gave Andrew a look, Andrew held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, sorry. No jokes. But Sirius… I really am glad you decided to meet with me." He reached out his hand to take Sirius's again, and this time Sirius let him. Andrew squeezed. "I'm so happy that you're happy. And I want to be a part of that in the time I have left." He paused and sighed as Sirius's eyes welled with tears. "I meant what I said in my letter, Sirius… I will always love you… And it may not be the same kind of love I felt when we were 22, but it's real love, Sirius… And I know I made bad decisions when we were together, and I know I wasn't fair to you, but that was only because I loved you _so much_. Just know that… What I felt for you was so real."

"Andrew…" Sirius choked.

"I know it wasn't supposed to be me," Andrew went on. "I know that Remus was the one you were meant for." He smiled. "But if I was just the prequel—if I was part of the thing that helped give you courage to go for Remus—then I'll take it. I'm just happy to be a part of such a romantic story."

"I don't want you to die, Andy," Sirius said through his tears. "It's not fair. Just when we…" He trailed off.

"I know. But there's some time," Andrew said hopefully.

"Not enough time."

Andrew laughed. "Well, there's never _enough_ time, Sirius. Life's short. You know that." After a moment, the smile slipped from Andrew's face and he brought his free hand to lift up Sirius's head to look at him. With his tear stained cheeks and his wide, sad eyes, Andrew thought that Sirius had never looked so beautiful. "Sirius… I just…" His voice broke and he took a deep breath before he went on with a shaky voice. "I just need to know that you forgive me. For everything." He shook his head and put a hand on his chest. "For all the fights we got in back then and for making you choose and for going behind your back with Remus… I just need you to forgive me."

For what felt like an eternity to Andrew, Sirius just stared at him and didn't say anything. It was like he was taking it all in. Then finally, he squeezed Andrew's hand again and smiled. "Andy… there's nothing to forgive."

* * *

_Next chapter:_

_Epilogue._


	17. Epilogue: The View From Now On

_A/N: Thank you so, so, so much to everyone who read, reviewed, and otherwise enjoyed this story. After Spectacular Views and The View From Now On, this interpretation of Remus and Sirius's story is sadly coming to a close. :( It has been a crazy experiment and an amazing journey, and I want to give a special to thanks to those who have been with me from the very beginning. I hope you know who you are. I will have more stories to come in the coming months, so keep checking back if you're interested in reading more of my work. Thank you SO much, and I hope you enjoy this last chapter! _

* * *

**Epilogue: The View From Now On**

"Remus, since the first moment I laid eyes on you, I knew I had to have you… And obviously I'm irresistible so I knew I would have you." Remus just laughed as Sirius went on with his little speech. "Everything between us happened so fast, but I was on a train that just couldn't stop from the first moment we met. Remus…" Sirius's voice caught a bit but he took a deep breath and went on. "These last four years have been the most amazing years of my life," he said, his voice raspy. "You have made me the happiest man in the entire world, so… Here's to the next four years… And a hundred more after that." Sirius raised his champagne glass and clanked it with Remus's over the table.

"I love you," Remus mouthed to Sirius, who smiled back.

"I'm so happy we decided to have dinner at home," Sirius said as Remus took a sip of his champagne. "It'll be convenient for when I fuck you over this table when we're done."

Remus coughed and spluttered champagne all down the front of his shirt while Sirius laughed. Sirius then patted his husband on the back as he continued to cough and wipe himself off.

"Dammit, Sirius," Remus said when he finally caught his breath, his voice hoarse.

"Love you, babe," Sirius said with a grin. Remus rolled his eyes at him. "Well, I have an announcement."

"I'm sure it can't top that last announcement," Remus said shortly.

Sirius laughed. "You're not mad at me, and I won my case."

Remus's face was suddenly overcome with shock. "What?"

"Neville's case," Sirius said. "I won."

"Holy shit, Sirius!" Remus said, jumping up from his chair and leaning over to hug Sirius. "Congratulations, babe," he said into Sirius's shoulder. Remus leaned back and sat in his chair, regarding Sirius proudly. "So what happened?"

"Well, I didn't really win," Sirius said with a laugh. "I just brought all the evidence to the prosecutor and I told him he had to drop the charges."

"So it's just that simple?" Remus said, laughing too.

"Well, I was… persuasive."

"And…?"

"Well, I said—"

"No, stop," Remus said, leaning back.

"What?"

"Do it… Say it to me exactly how you said it to him," Remus said, biting his lower lip.

Sirius laughed and stood up, smirking at Remus as he did so. Every time Sirius "reenacted" something he did in court or in the course of his work, Remus always wanted a play-by-play. The power turned him on.

"Okay, so, him and I were talking about the case and I said, 'you're going to drop these charges, Moody,'" Sirius said, taking a firm battle stance and making a fierce face as if Remus was the prosecutor. "And Moody said 'and why would I do that?' So then I told him what I knew, and he chuckled and said 'you coached the kid well.' And I just shook my head and said, 'imagine how you'll look. Just imagine how _despicable_ you're going to look when you put a crying eight-year-old on the stand—a boy who has protected his sister since she was a baby—and hear him tell the jury how he killed the man that molested his four year old sister.' I said, 'Moody… Get real. It's over.' And it was."

"Come here," Remus said as he stood up and pulled Sirius close so he could kiss him hard. Remus wrapped his arms around the other man's neck as he deepened the kiss, and Sirius put his arms around Remus's waist, pulling him closer. When they pulled away, Remus smiled. "Now, about fucking me over the table…"

* * *

_Two Months Later_

"Neville, Teddy, Alice! Will you three hurry up! We have to get to your grandparents!" Remus called down the hall to his three children. He then turned back to go into his bedroom to find Sirius with one shoe on and the other shoe in his hand as he stared out the window. "Hey," he said, sitting down next to Sirius. "You okay?"

Sirius looked over at him and smiled. "Yeah," he said. "Fine."

"Your mom's excited," Remus said, scooting closer to Sirius. "So's Regulus."

Sirius just smiled and went back to putting on his shoe.

They sat in silence for a moment while Sirius laced up his brown loafer and Remus regarded him intently.

"You know I was thinking about something," Sirius said after a moment.

"What's that?"

"Isn't it weird that Andrew and Severus are dead?"

"Sirius…"

"I mean, what are the odds that both of our ex-boyfriends are dead?"

Remus sighed. "Severus was an addict. And he had been for a long time… And… Andrew was sick. He had a family history of cancer that was passed onto him—"

"I don't mean what are the odds that they died. I mean, what are the odds of us being together and my old boyfriend being dead when your old boyfriend is dead, too. Isn't that strange?"

"I suppose…"

"What if… I'm not religious," Sirius said, looking at Remus. Remus inhaled sharply at the intensity of his gaze. "My mom is. She's the good Episcopalian." Sirius shrugged. "Anyway, that's not really me, but… But doesn't it seem like… God… You know, if there is a god… Doesn't it seem like God or the universe or whatever was trying to clear all of our obstacles? You know, like God wanted to make sure we'd be together at any cost…"

Sirius trailed off and Remus didn't know how to feel. On one hand, it was extremely romantic for Sirius to say that it had been divined or foreseen that they would be together. On the other hand, Remus had no idea what to say in response. He knew Sirius was just grieving the loss of his old friend who had only passed a week or so before, but he had never, ever heard Sirius talk like this.

"Anyway, that's weird to say, I know," Sirius said, standing up abruptly.

"Not weird," Remus said quietly, still sitting on the bed.

Sirius walked over to his dresser and he was digging for something while Remus watched him. Eventually, he pulled out a black cardigan and shoved his arms through it quickly. "We should get going," he said, with his back to Remus as he combed his hair quickly and sprayed a bit of cologne. "It's probably going to be a little weird with my dad at first, but if does or says anything rude to you, we'll leave, okay?"

"Okay," Remus said, still in a quiet tone as he watched Sirius with a concerned frown.

"I love you," Sirius said abruptly as he turned to face Remus.

"I—I love you, too," Remus said, caught off guard.

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, you know that, right?"

"I… sure, Sirius… yeah…"

Sirius walked over to where Remus was still sitting on the bed and walked in between his legs. He slowly slid his hands to Remus's jaw so that his thumbs were caressing the spot just below Remus's ears, and tipped Remus's head back so that their eyes met.

"I'm really happy," Sirius said. "With everything. You, Teddy… Neville and Alice… When their adoption is final, I can't even… I'm just really happy, and I want you to know that it's because of you."

Remus tried to respond, but he was always mildly speechless when Sirius got like this. But Remus didn't have to respond because Sirius leaned in and brushed his lips against Remus's, making Remus shiver.

"I love you," Sirius breathed against Remus's mouth before he closed the gap. And their mouths met, and as always, it was heaven. Sirius kissed him deeply and eagerly, and soon their tongues were wrapping around each other's and Sirius was pressing himself against Remus, who reached out to grip Sirius's hips. Before either of them really knew what happened, Remus had scooted back and fallen onto his back on the bed, and Sirius was straddling him, their mouths never parting.

"Sirius," Remus panted, breaking his mouth away when he desperately needed air. Sirius's mouth moved to his neck. "Sirius—ah—we have to go." Sirius just grunted. "The kids will be… ready…" Remus breathed.

"Five minutes," Sirius muttered against Remus's neck. Remus arched into him involuntarily, and he felt Sirius smile against his neck when he did so. "I'll make it quick, Remus. I need you."

Remus pushed Sirius off of him and rolled out from under him quickly. Sirius frowned when he watched his husband walk to the door of their bedroom. But the frown faded when Remus closed the door and Sirius heard a faint click.

"The kids'll be fine for five minutes," Remus said huskily. Sirius nodded, and Remus rushed back to the bed to meet him.

Twelve minutes later, the family was ready to go and loading up the car to head to Sirius's parents' house for Christmas. The kids were restless, simply longing to play with all the new toys and things that Sirius and Remus had gotten them for Christmas. Teddy was happy and grateful and loving, but what had really moved both Sirius and Remus were the looks of relative amazement on Neville and Alice's faces—like they had never seen presents before in their lives (and it was likely they hadn't).

"Everybody ready?" Sirius asked as Remus finished strapping the kids in and hopped into the passenger seat. When the kids screamed back that they were, Sirius looked over at Remus and put a hand on his knee with a smile. Yes. He was happy.

* * *

"Harry!"

"Harry?" Sirius turned around, confused, and saw Harry Potter running out to greet Teddy, Neville, and Alice.

"The Potters are here?" Remus asked with a casserole dish in his hand. Sirius shrugged, taking Alice's hand as they walked up to his parents' house in the Hamptons, bags of presents in his other hand.

"Hey!" Regulus said as he opened the front door with a large smile on his face. He kissed his nieces and nephews, shook Remus's hand and hugged Sirius briefly. Sirius was so confused. He rarely saw his brother so excited.

"Did you invite the Potters?" Sirius asked as they family shuffled into the house.

"Dad did," Regulus said. Sirius raised his eyebrows. "I know," Regulus said with a smirk.

"_Our_ father? Orion Black? Invited _James_ Potter to his house?"

Regulus just laughed and nodded. "Come in here, kids," Regulus said to the four kids standing around in the foyer.

The kids ran forward after Harry.

"No running!" Remus called after them, but it was pointless.

"Hi!"

Remus and Sirius looked up and saw Lily and James rounding the corner.

Lily was glowing, holding her new baby closely, and James was grinning like a fool as they both approached.

"I didn't know you guys were coming," Sirius said as he hugged James with one arm and kissed Lily. He then handed the presents to Regulus who rolled his eyes and went to put them under the tree as Sirius took the baby out of Lily's hands.

"Hi again, Johnny," Sirius said as he pulled the blankets down from the baby so he could touch his soft head.

"Stupid Harry," James said. "He ruined the surprise because he just couldn't _wait_ until you guys came inside."

"That's your son," Lily said with fake sternness as she watched Sirius with baby John. Remus walked up to watch them as well.

"God, I miss babies," Remus said as he put his finger by John's hand. The baby squeezed his finger, although his eyes remained closed.

"Don't even think about it," Sirius said without looking up at him. "We already have three monsters."

Remus and James laughed, and Lily just smiled.

"It's fine, anyway," Sirius said. "As long as we have Lily, we'll be chock full of babies for the next few years."

"You wish," Lily said.

"You guys aren't having any more?" Remus asked.

"No—"

"We haven't made a decision yet," James said quickly. Lily opened her mouth to argue, but just then, Sirius's mother rounded the corner.

"Why don't you all come in?" she said in her high-pitched voice. "Take your coats off and get settled in." Her hair was pulled back into a tight, black bun at the base of her neck, and she was wearing a stylish, high-collared, dark green dress. She looked every bit the aging New York socialite.

"Hi, mom," Sirius said, leaning in to kiss her cheek while being mindful of the baby.

"I'm so happy you're here, darling," Walburga said. Then she turned to Remus. "Remus, darling," she said, kissing him as well. "How lovely to see you. You look wonderful."

"Thank you, Mrs. Black."

"Oh, Remus, call me Walburga… Or mom…" she added with a hopeful smile. Remus looked incredibly taken aback, but he didn't have a chance to respond because they were all being shuffled into the other room by Walburga.

After a few minutes, they were all in the enormous family room. James was holding John, and Lily was sitting with Remus as the two chatted. Sirius was talking to Regulus and Isabelle about stock prices, and Harry, Neville, Teddy, and Alice were all sitting around playing with the excessive amount of toys that Sirius's parents had apparently bought just for the occasion. Walburga, in the mean time, was shuffling around the room trying to feed everyone with the hors d'oeuvres she had in her hands.

"Where's dad?" Sirius asked when Walburga made it over to him, Regulus, and Isabelle.

"Oh, he won't stop fussing over the turkey. The old—"

"I'm here, Wally," Orion's bass voice rang out in the room as he entered. He was tall and thin with dark hair streaked with gray. He looked like an older version of both Regulus and Sirius.

Sirius rose and noticed out of the corner of his eye that Remus had, too.

"Hey dad," Sirius said as he approached his father.

"Hello, son," Orion said. And before Sirius knew what was happening, Orion had pulled him into a hug. When he pulled away, Sirius didn't know what to say, but he noticed Remus at his side, so he managed to say, "Dad, this is Remus."

"Pleasure to meet you, son," Orion said, reaching out and grasping Remus's outstretched hand with both of his.

Sirius turned and looked at Regulus, who just shrugged.

"Now, where are my grandchildren!" Orion boomed, making Remus jump a bit.

Sirius walked over to where his kids were sitting, and he was about to introduce his kids when Orion suddenly sat down next to them. "What are you playing?" Orion asked.

Neville looked up at him, and Sirius noticed how he inched a bit closer to his sisters—always the protective older brother.

"We're playing Godzilla," Harry said.

Orion laughed loudly and deeply. "Mind if I play?"

"Sure," Teddy said happily. She loved teaching people. "What's your name?" she asked first.

"I'm Orion," he said. "I'm your granddad."

"Mine?" Teddy asked. "How come I've never met you?"

Sirius, Remus, and everyone else in the room were observing the scene intently. Sirius shook his head at Teddy and glanced at Remus. He was sure they were thinking the same thing. _Her and her damn questions._

"Well, I was being… mean for a while, so I never got a chance to meet you."

"But you're nice now?" Teddy asked.

"I like to think so," Orion said, clearly happy about his granddaughter's spunk.

"Well, I'm Teddy," she then said. "And this is my new brother Neville and my new sister Alice. If you're my granddad, you're their granddad, too," she finished matter-of-factly.

"Pleasure to meet all of you," Orion said. "I'm your granddad," he said to Neville and Alice, who both seemed to relax.

"Hi," Alice said quietly.

"Hello," Neville said.

"Can we play now, or what?" Harry asked suddenly.

All of the adults in the room laughed.

A bit later, Sirius jogged lightly to the front door where the doorbell had just rang. When he opened the door, he almost cried when he saw Priscilla and Peter standing there, Pris holding presents and looking annoyed and Peter holding some bowls of food, looking sheepish.

"Hi," Priscilla said with a hint of agitation in her voice. "Your mother invited us. Sorry we're late, we—oomph!" She was broken off by Sirius pulling her into a tight hug. She loosened up instantly and laughed a bit. "Jeez, Sirius."

When Sirius spoke, his voice was hoarse with emotion. It had been an overwhelming day. "Now Christmas is perfect."

* * *

_Some Time Later_

"Don't open your eyes… Remus!"

"Your hands are covering my eyes, idiot."

Sirius chuckled, and his breath on Remus's ear made him shiver.

"Okay, almost there," Sirius said as he guided Remus carefully. "Keep them closed."

"Hands covering eyes," Remus snapped. But he had to admit he was excited for whatever it was. He loved surprises.

"Okay, I'm going to move my hands, but keep your eyes closed, okay?" Sirius said giddily.

If Remus's eyes were open, he would have rolled them. "Okay." Remus then heard Sirius scramble on the pavement outside. From what he could surmise, Sirius had him standing right on the sidewalk in front of their house.

"Okay…" Sirius said slowly. "Open them!"

When Remus opened his eyes, it took him a moment to realize what Sirius had done. His eyes adjusted to the sunny day, and he saw Sirius straddling a motorcycle in the street.

"Ta da!" Sirius said excitedly.

"You bought a motorcycle."

"Wait, wait!" Sirius said, grinning like a fool. He bent down and picked something up, and before Remus knew it, Sirius was sporting a tight leather jacket over his grey v-neck. And suddenly the motorcycle seemed like a really good idea—his husband was hot as hell.

"Damn," Remus said.

"You like it?" Sirius said, still grinning.

"Not as much as I like what's on it," Remus said, returning the grin.

Sirius pouted. "You don't like the bike?"

Remus strode toward Sirius, and reached out so he could run his hands along the handlebars. "It's nice," Remus said simply.

"Nice!" Sirius said, affronted. "It's beautiful. And I want you to take a ride with me."

Remus raised his eyebrows at his husband. "I'm not riding that thing."

"Oh, don't be such a baby, Remus."

Remus gaped at him. "I'm not a baby. And in case you forgot, we have three children to take care of. And now that I know their other father is probably going to die any day on this death trap, I have to take extra care to keep myself alive."

"Remus…"

Remus sighed. He always gave in when Sirius pouted. "I don't know, Sirius. I—mmph—"

Remus was suddenly cut off as Sirius yanked Remus forward and pressed their lips together.

"Sirius—" Remus said, his voice muffled as Sirius's mouth still covered his. "Mmm…" Remus gave in for a moment and slid his arms around Sirius's neck. When he was finally able to pull away, he was breathless and his lips were swollen.

"You wanna take a ride with me?" Sirius said huskily.

_I'm gonna regret this…_ "Sure, baby," Remus whispered. "You know I'd ride with you anywhere."

* * *

_End_.


End file.
